


PR 1120 
.G39 
1902 
Copy 1 



THE 



North-English Homily Collection 



A STUDY OF 

THE MANUSCRIPT RELATIONS 

AND OF 

THE SOURCES OF THE TALES 



i 



A Dissertation Presented to the Board of Studies for English 
Language and Literature of The University of Oxford 

IN June 1901 
For The Degree of Bachelor of Letters 



KY 



GORDON HALL GEROULD. 



1902 



) 

/ 



THE 



North-English Homily Collection 



A STUDY OF 

THE MANUSCRIPT RELATIONS 

AND OF 

THE SOURCES OF THE TALES 



A Dissertation Presented to the Board of Studies for English 
Language and Literature of The University of Oxford 

IN June 1901 
For The Degree of Bachelor of Letters 



BY 



GORDON HALL GEROULD. 

i t 



1902 



*^ 



PR 1110 

hot 



BEQUEST OF 

RCHARD S. HILL 

MAY 10, 1961 

Copy, 

PRESS OF 

THE NEW ERA PRINTING COMPANY 

LANCASTER, PA. 



9/7/5^^^ 



EXAMINERS. 

Professor Arthur S. Napier. 
Professor Joseph Wright. 
W. H. Stevenson, M.A. 



^ 



NOTE. 

In printing this dissertation I wish to express my obHgations to all 
those who have given me help in its preparation : for the courteous 
kindness, among others, of the officers of the Bodleian Library, of the 
Library of the University of Cambridge, of the Department of Manu- 
scripts in the British Museum, and of the Bibliotheque Nationale in 
Paris ; to the Librarian of Lambeth Palace who allowed a manuscript 
to be sent me at Oxford ; and to Rev. J. Fenwick, of Cheltenham, the 
owner of the Phillipps Collection. Above all I am indebted to the 
kindness and ever-ready help of my honored teacher and friend, Pro- 
fessor Arthur S. Napier, at whose suggestion the work was undertaken. 

I hope in the not too remote future to publish a critical edition of 
the North-English Homily Collection with a study of its language, for 
which I have already gathered a good deal of material. 



PART I. 



MANUSCRIPT RELATIONS. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY OF NORTH-ENGLISH LEGENDARY. 



Horstmann, Altenglische Legenden, Neue Folge, 1881. 

'' Herrig's Archiv, LXXXII, p. 167. 

Matzner, Sprachproben, I, p. 278. 
Morris and Skeat, Specimens of E. E. Lit., II, p. 83. 
Small ( J ) . , English Metrical Homilies, 1862. 

MSS. 







• Edinburgh, Royal Coll. of Phys 






Ashmole 42, 






Camb. Univ. G g V. 31. 


Original 




'' D d I. I. 


Collection 


< 


Lambeth 260. 
Harleian 2391. 
Phillipps 8122. 
- 8254. 


Expanded 




Vernon. 


Collection (i 


■ 


Addit. 22283. 


Expanded 




Harl. 4196. 


Collection (: 


■ 


Cott. Tib. E, VII. 
Bodleian, Eng. Poet. C 4. 


Fragments 


■' 


7 ^ 

In possession of Lord Robartes. 



Of the expanded collections I shall say nothing, confining my atten- 
tion to the original form. The tables of contents of these collections 
have been printed by Horstmann, Altengl. Legend., p. Ixxi and p.-^ 
Ixxviii. The Vernon collection differs chiefly in adding homilies , 
for a great number of feast days, the Harleian by inserting also homilies 
for an extraordinary number of week days. The textual differences 
are well illustrated by the homily for the 2d Sunday in Advent which 
in MS. Harl. 4196 has only 29 lines out of 288 that approach the 
normal type of the original collection. 



".4 



r 



\ . 



G. H. GEROULD 



ORIGINAL COLLECTION. 

The MSS. of this family have been fully and accurately described 
by Horstmann (^Altenglische Legenden, Neue Folge, p. Ix. ff. ) in so 
far as he knew them. A summary description of these will there- 
fore suffice. Dr. Horstmann had not seen the Phillipps MSS., how- 
ever, and he considerably antedated MS. Ash. 42, which he placed^ 
in the second quarter of the 14th century. According to Mr. Fal- 
coner Madan, of the Bodleian Library, this MS. is rather of the early ^ 
15 th century, an estimate which is corroborated by the fact that it ^. 
contains homilies for certain feast days. This is certainly a mark of 
its comparatively late date, since the original form of the collection, 
as implied by the title Evangelia Domiiiicalia, contained homilies 
only for the Sundays of the church year.^ Later on week-day feasts 
were gradually included in the collection. As will be shown there is 
no doubt that the Edin. MS. stands nearer the original than any 
other which we have preserved ; but unhappily it exists only in a 
fragmentary form. Yet even this MS. is far from being a perfect type. 

The MSS. of the collection are the following : — 
MS. Edinburgh, Royal College of Physicians : thin quarto ; northern 

dialect; vellum; early 14th century; printed by J. Small, Eng- 
lish Metrical Homilies, Edin. 1862. 
MS. Ashmole 42 : large octavo; northern dialect; vellum; early 15th 

century. 
MS. Camb. G g V. 31, Univ. Libr. Camb.: quarto; northern dialect; 

vellum ; date probably nearly same as that of preceding. 
MS. Camb. D d I. i, Univ. Libr. Camb.: long narrow form; southern 

dialect ; paper and vellum ; toward middle of 15 th century. 
MS. Lambeth 260: small folio; northern dialect; paper; toward 

middle of 15th century. 
MS. Harl. 2391: quarto; northern dialect: paper; second half of 

15th century; contains narrationes only. 

MS. Phillipps 8122: small quarto; northern dialect; paper and 

kg^ g^ vellum (vellum enclosing quires, but in most cases apparently cut 

|l_^ /\ ^ ^ out before copying of contents); small, rather careless hand; 215 

J ^^^al^*^ leaves, of which corners are torn through 12 ; bound in vellum- 

p^^^^ 4^ '^ covered oak boards ; date not earlier than last quarter of 14th century. 

Begins with a fragment of homily for Nativity. Homilies run from i 

1 Horstmann, p. Ixiv. 

2 Cf. Plorstmann, p. Iviii. 



NORTH-ENGLISH HOMILY COLLECTION 7 

to 185(a) and include a Life of St. Bartholomew inserted abruptly 
into Dom. XV. post Trin. At bottom of 185(a) is a colophon with 
the name of .the scribe : 

*' Nome sc^ptoris R. S.^ plenu amoris. " 

A\^th 185(b) begins a Life of St. Anne which runs to 216(b), the 
end of the volume. Begins : 



*' All Jjt haues lykyng for to lere 
Of prophetes sawes & storys sere 



herkens now 
to me." 



" . ^ MS. Phillipps 8254: small quarto; northern dialect; paper; 174 

/fA-*^' leaves, of which half of first has been torn out; bound in modern 

^p Russia; writing clear but hurried, changes at beginning of 144(a); 

date first half of 15th century. Breaks in MS. include portion of 

homily for Purification and for Dom. LXX ; from Feria IL in XL. 

'^\nd fande per when ]7ai com thider. " — to homily for In die Pentec. 

1 The second letter may possibly be G. Mr. F. Madan, who was kind enough to 
examine a sketch of the letter made from the MS., judged it to be S probably. 

AeLM A ^^*^ 



TABLE SHOWING CONTENTS OF VARIOUS MSS. 
WITH THEIR ARRANGEMENT. 



Lines 



show that homilies are contained in MS. 



Lines show lacunae in MS. 

Lines ooooooooo show that homilies were never contained in MS. 



Ash. 42 and Lambeth 260. 


Camb. 

Univ. 

Gg. V. 31 


Camb. 

Univ. 

Dd. I. I 


Edinb. 


Phil. 
8122. 


Phil. 
8254. 


Harl.^ 

2391. 

(tales, only) 


Title of Horn. Narr. {if any). 
Prologus. 

Ratio. 

Dom. I. in Ad- Mary Magdalene. 




oosooooooa 








See below. 

Abbess only. 
See below. / 


















ventu. 
Dom. II. in Ad- Monk who Re- 










ventu. turned. 

Dom. III. in Ad- Death of John 
ventu. Bapt. 

Dom. IV. in Ad- Pilgrims to St. 

ventu. James. 
In die Nativita- (i) St. Martin, (2) 






















Title diff. 


Title like 
F.din. 


tis. St. Antony, (3) 
St. Machary. 










/ 


Dom. inf. oct. Archbishop and 
Nat. Nun. 










00000 0/0 


In Epiphania. Three Kings. 
Dom. I. post St. John and the 












Epiph. Boy. 
Dom. II. post St. Thomas' 








0000000000 


0000 000000 


000 0/0 00000 


Epiph. Mother. 
Dom. III. post Gyezi. 






' 


Epiph. 
Dom. IV. post Avaricious Knight. 












/ 


Epiph. » 
Dom. V. post Devil as Physi- 












/ 


Epiph. cian. 
In Purificatione. (i) Widow, (2) 












^ 


Abbess. 
Dom. LXX. Hermit who Re- 













canted. 
Dom. LX. Mawryne. 
Dom. L. St. Bernard and 






















Peasant. 
Dom. I. in XL. Placidas. 










0000000000 


Dom. II. in XL. Uncharitable Her- 










mit. 
In die Annunc. Knight saved by 




ooooooooo 






;^ 


Mary. 
Dom. III. in St. Bede. 


1 , 1 1 1 • 1 1 

! ! ! : 1 : I 1 






XL. 
Dom. IV. in XL. Piers Toller. 






In Passione Hermit and 

Dom. Thieves. 
Dom. in Ramis. Man in Devil's 






Placed before 
Seimo 








Leash. 
In die Pasche. St. Martin and 


I'etri et Pauli 


00000 000 






Beggar. 
Feria II. Devil in Church 







000000 000 


Dom. I. post St. Edmund and 
Pasche. Devil. 

Dom. II. post Theobald. 
Pasche. 

Dom. III. post Good Monk. 
Pasche. 

Dom. IV. post 




























000000 00 e 


Pasche. 
Dom. V. post Mother of James 








Pasche. and John. 
In Ascensione. Carpus. 















NORTH-ENGLISH HOMILY COLLFXTION 



Ash. 42 and Lambeth 260. 



Title of Hovi. 

Dom. inf. oct. 
Asc. 

In die Pentecos- 
tes. 

Feria II. 

In die S. Trinita- 

tis. 
Dom. I. post 

Trin. 

Dom. II. post 
Trin. 

Dom. III. post 
Trin. 

Dom. IV. post 
Trin. 

Dom. V. post 
Trin. 

Dom. VI. post 
Trin. 

Dom. VII. post 
Trin. 

Dom. VIII. post 
Trin. 

Dom. IX. post 
Trin. 

Dom. X. post 
Trin. 

Dom. XI. post 
Trin. 

Dom. XII. post 
Trin. 

Dom. XIII. post 
Trin. 

Dom. XIV. post 
Trin. 

Dom. XV. post 
Trin. 

Dom. XVI. post 
Trin. 

Dom. XVII. post 
Trin. 

Dom. XVIII. 

post Trin. 
Dom. XIX. post 

Trin. 

Dom. XX. post 
Trin. 

Dora. XXI. post 

Trin. 
Dom.XXII.post 

Trin. 

Dom. XXIII. 
post Trin. 

Dom. XXIV. 
post Trin. 



In VigiliaS. Joh- 
annis Bapt. 



Narr. {if any). 
Melancholy King. 

Obedient Servant. 

Thaisis. 
Baptism of Christ. 



Hermit and Angel. 
Creation. 
Harsh Monk. 



Hermit and St. 
Oswald. 



Theophil. 
Parish Priest. 
Gardener. 
Monk's Brother. 
St. Pelagia. 

Forgiving Knight. 

( I ) Gregory and 
Trajan, (2) Im- 
prisoned Jews. 

Gregory's Aunts. 

Despised Nun. 
Backbiting Monk. 

Esther. 

(In Ash. referred 
to Dom. IV. in 
XL. In Lamb., 
a Latin homily.) 



IndieS.Johannis St. Alexis. 
Bapt. 

Sermo in Festo Simon Magus. 
Petri et Pauli. 

(Lacuna in Ash. from Dom. XX. to 
Dom. XXII. post Irin.) 




lO 



G. H. GEROULD 



It is evident from this table that the MSS. may be divided roughly 
into two groups : 

Ash. 42. 
Lamb. 260. 
Camb. G g V. 31. 
Camb. D d I.. I. 
Harl. 2391. 

Edin. 

Phill. 8122. 
Phill. 8254. 

This is shown by the heading for Nativity in Edin. and Phill. 8254 ; 
by the narrative of St. Thomas' mother for Dom. II. post Epiph., 
omitted in Phill. 8122, Phill. 8254, and Harl. 2391 ; by the titles given 
for the same Sunday in Edin., Phill. 8122, and Phill. 8254 ; by the ar- 
rangement of the homilies for Annunciation, Dom. III., and Dom. 
IV. in Quadragesima ; by the omission of the narrative for Dom. XX. 
post Trin. in Phill. 8122 and Phill. 8254 ; and by the inclusion of the 
narratives of St. Alexis and Simon Magus in the members of the first 
group only. Notwithstanding the individual peculiarities of Camb. 
D d I. I and Harl. 2391 they range themselves, as far as can be 
judged from their contents, with group i. 

On the basis of this conjectural arrangement a detailed study of the 
affiliations of the MSS. may be made. I have omitted Harl. 2391 and 
indicate the MSS. by the following letters : 

A= MS. Ash. 42. 



B = 

C = 
D = 
E = 
F = 



Camb. G g V. 31. 
Lamb. 260. 
Camb. D d I. i. 
Phillipps 8254. 
'' 8122. 



G = Edin. (as printed by Small), 



NORTH-ENGLISH HOMILY COLLECTION II 



RELATION OF A TO C. 

Taking the homily for the 2d Sunday in Advent as the basis of com- 
parison. 

( I ) The close relationship is shown by the following instances where 
A and C differ from the other MSS. but are like each other : (2) what ; 
(8) folk thole bathe traye ; (9) fall; (13) in heght ; (14) all of; 
(16) mageste and grete ; (19) l>ese ; (22) vs boght when we ware ; 
(24) Anothir ; (28) je may; (29) ]nr takenynges when je se ; (31) 
sail awaie fare ; (4i)spekes; (42) in it vs; (49) pat; (51) bales; 
(58) ):'e pore it . . . sowande ; (69) And; (72) for; (75) j^at 
takenynges; (76) sterne & sonne ; (85) pai may ]?en trow; (S6) 
com j^an in hy ; (88) may instead of sal; (89) pare pai ; (102) 
taken s ; (103) says; (104) taken s ; (105) dome sail; (109) hill; 
(in) hilles ; (112) Sexti fete ; (116) haue lesse ; (117) pe mere- ; 
(121) ferde ; (122) brynne ; 130 quake & stere & all men; (131) 
hilles; (133) oute ; (134) & als . . . out of caues lepe ; (136) in 
lyes; (140) ]>at gret ; (141) uerraymente ; (142) All |)e erde brenne 
& ]>e firmamente ; (144) newe be made & pat; (145) all men pan; 
(146) wip paim to pat assyse ; (147, 148, 149, 150) represented m 
other texts by two lines ; (152) had leuere ; (154) it breme ; (155) 
To all syn full pat comes pare ; (158) schamesli ; (i63)maye; (168) 
paynes ; (169) es in synne ; (170) throughout ; (173) pan may pai ; 
(175)' all men; (176) sawmpil ; (177, 178, 183, 186) fermorere ; 
(192) Faythe ymange ; (193) fermorere; (203) If god; (206) 
leue pat; (216) brijt ; ( 2 2 2 ) foule sathane ; (223) pe toper thojt ; 
(226) to now; (232) it ferde ; (234) To; (235) I foundid ; (238, 
245) I jalde ; (247) I sawe ; (248) pt I had done; (249) In pe 
rewle in ; (251) Forthi ; (252) to hell for euere mare ; (260) pen- 
aunce ; (265) pis many ; (266) He gert his brepir for him; (268) 
wyse ; (274) forgiuen ; (276) vnshriuen ; (278) vs all forgiuen ; 
(279) vs burd oure synnes bete ; (283) clenli vs schryue ; (284) And 
do rijt penaunce in pis lyue ; (286) to; (287) euer mare sail. 

( 2 ) The separation of C from A is shown by these instances, where 
C differs from A when A is normal : (4) pt es to pe ; (5) says ; (10) 
pai sail se ; (23) had pis ; (30) Wt pt criste es nere comand ; (32) 
euermare ; (43) for to sak ; (62) & of scathe; (63) prines [sic] 



12 G. H. GEROULD 

prud ; (66) jemes riche ; (67) es hay ; (68) Ynowghe mete; (79) 
oure takenynges ; (81) leaves out he sais ; (98) ]>at nere ; (106) 
daie sail fall; (108) ere be; (132) j)e erde ; (140) vn to; (141) 
fourtend sail ; (152) leuere fle ; (158) wehaf; (196) lufe him ; (197) 
]7t he felde ; (201) for hym was full; (202) full ^are ; (216) He 
come to his fellow full ; (221) noght ; (229) lyfed ; (249) plase ; 
(255) Ihesu criste ; (256) be in purgatorie ; (257) To dense ; (267) 
tald jowe ; ( 2 7 1 ) rekenyng ; (275) ]?er sail. 

(3) C could not have been copied from A, as is shown by the fol- 
lowing instances where C differs from A when A differs from normal r 
(17) ])er begynnes to; (20) nere ]?an commen es ; (33) All ])e ; 
(47) of l^e takens ; (70) & hase ; (84) synfull men may mykyll 
morne ; (88) ])ai may; (151) griseli to J^aim ; (233) & son sayd 
eftyr I jeld ; (247) I sare ]?er ]?en ; (250) gastly wase ; (254) had I. 

(4) The same is shown by the following readings from A, when C 
follows normal and A does not : (21) he talde ; (34) fordone ; (36) 
ende brojt ; (40) in yng- ; (41) on ])is ; (55) saide ; (57) were fall; 
(123) daye gresse ; (138) thrittend sail ; (158) lorne ; (218) And 
prayed; ( 2 8 1 ) rigt j^are ; (271) For ])are ; (279) For j^is. 

We have, then, established the fact that A and C proceed from a 

common original which we may call A^. This may be represented 

graphically as follows : 

A* 

/\ 

/ \ 

A C 



NORTH-ENGLISH HOMILY COLLECTION 1 3 



RELATIONS OF A*, B, D, G, and E. 

Again considering the homily for the 2d Sunday in Advent. Varia- 
tions from normal (in case of D leaving dialectical changes out of ac- 
count). Larger numbers are numbers of lines in Dom. II. in Ad. 
Smaller numbers show similarity or difference of changes in indi- 
vidual lines. 

A*. 2^ 8\ 9\ i3\ i4\ 16, 17, 19, 22, 24\ 28\ 29, 31, 33^ 40, 
4iS 42\ M\ S^\ 66\ 6g\ 70', 72, 75, j6\ 8i\ 84', 85, 86\ 88\ 

89, I02\ 103^ 105^ 109^, III^ 112^, 116, II7\ I2l\ I22\ 130^ 

131? 133^ i34\ 136', 140', i4i\ 142', i44\ 146', i47\ 148', 149 
and 150 07z/y in A*, 151^ 152, i54\ 155^ 163, i73\ 175, 176^ i77\ 
178^ i98\ 203, 2o6\ 2i6\ 222\ 223\ 232, 233^ 234^ 235, 238\ 
245^ 247^ 248^ 249^, 250^ 252^ 254^ 258 inserted, 260, 262^ 265, 
266\ 268\ 272\ 276\ 279\ 284^ 286\ 287\ 

B. 15, 18, 21, 23, 33'^ 34S 35, 2>8\ 41-, 44I, 46^ 46^ 47^ 50^ 
53\ 54\ 57\ 60, 6i\ 62, 63\ 66^ 67^ 69^ 7i\ 74, 78, 84^ 86^ 94, 
98^, 99^ 100^, 100^, 102^, 112^, 118, 121^, 123^ 124^ 125^ 126^ 
130'. 138', 139-142 replaced, \\f, I44^ \^\\ I55^ 157, i6i^ i62\ 
167^ 171, 172^ 176^, 178^ 182^ 184^ i86\ 188, 190, i93\ i94\ 
196^ i97\ 198^ 2oo\ 2o5\ 206^, 209, 213^, 225^ 227^, 228^ 237, 
244, 246^, 247^, 249^, li?ie inserted before 254, 254^, 259^ 261^ 267^, 
271^ 272^ 274^ 282, 283^, 287^ 

D. i\ 6\ 9% 10, II^ i2\ 13^ I4^ 24^ 25\ 28\ 3o\ 34% s^\ 
40, 42% 46% 51% 53% 54% 59% 60, 61% 63% 66\ 70% 74, 79 and 
80 reversed, 81^, 82, 88'^, 89, 93, 100% loi, 102% 104% 105% 106, 
109% 110% 111% 113, 114, 117% 118, 119% 121% 123% 124% 132, 
134% 135% 136% 138% 139% 142% 143% 144% 147% 148% 154% 156% 
159, 160% 161% 162% 165, 166% 167% 172% 175, 178% 179 and 180 
omitted, 181, 182% 188, 194% 196% 197% 198% 199% 203, 205% 207, 
211, 212, 213% 214, 216% 225% 226, 227% 228% 229, 230, 231, 232, 
233% 234% 240% 241, 243% 245% 246% 247% 250% 254% 262% 264, 
265, 266% 267% 268% 271% 273, 276% 279% 280% 281, 284^ 

G. 9% 12% 26, 28% 30% 32, 48% 55, 57% 59% 66% 67% 76% 79% 
81% 82, 110% 125% 126% 128, 140% 142% 143% 156% 166% 172% 174, 
177% 185, 186% 189, 193% 194% 199% 200% 204, 207, 211, 213% 



14 G. H. GEROULD 

214, 225\ 228^ 243^ 259^ 262^ 267^ 272^ 274', ^75, 279^ 28o^ 
283^ 284^ 285, 286^ 

E. i^ 2^, 5, 6^ 7 and 8 reversed, (f, ii^ 14', 18, 21', 24^, 25', 
26, 33'. 34', 36', 38', 42', 44', 46', 47', 48', 50*; SZ\ SA\ 63', 64, 

66^ 69^ 7I^ 75, 76^ 79^ 82, 86^ 87, 89, 90, 94, 98^ 99^ loo^ 

102', 103^ 104', 105^ 109^ IIo\ 115, II9^ 122^, 124^, 126', 128, 

130'. 135'. 136', 138*, 139'. 141', 142*, 146', 151', 156', I6I^ I66^ 

167-172 omitted, 173^ 176^ 177^ 178*, 182^ 184^ i86^ 189, 190, 
193^, 197s I98^ I99^ 2oo\ 202, 204, 206^, 211, 222^, 223^, 225', 
228S 230, 233^ 238^ 240^ 243^ 244, 245^ 247*, 248^ 25o^ 254^ 
257, 259^, 261^, 271^ 274^ 275, 280^, 283^, 288. 183 is the sa^ne 
in B and E. 

Where all five agree : 3, 4, 27, 37, 39, 43, 45, 52, 65, dZ, 73, 77, 
83, 91. 92, 96, 97. 107. 108, 127, 129, 137, 153, 164, 187, 191, 
195, 201, 208, 210, 215, 217, 219, 220, 224, 236, 239, 242, 253, 
255. 256, 263, 269, 270, 277. 

Where all disagree : 20, 49, 56, 58, 95, 120, 145, 158, 168, 169, 
170, 183, 192, 218, 221, 251, 278, 284. 

Thus out of 288 lines 45 are the same in all five MSS. and 18 dif- 
ferent in each MS. A^ has 95 individual variations from the normal, 
B has 92, D has 121, G has 55, and E has 109. The relative propor- 
tion of mistakes in G is therefore little more than half that in any 
other MS. 

Places where E has mistakes like G alone : (9) sal duin . . . of se ; 
(26) tres froit ; (no) felle /(?r hille ; (120) bremly bete ; (177) of 
])e heuin ; (186) enfermer ; (189) ful wel ; (193) enfermer ; (199) 
And said ful hard; (204) That he suld ; (225) alle wel; (243) 
ouerlop ; (259) hop I ; (275) the sines. 

Where E has mistakes like G and D: (82)salse; (199) And said ; 
(211) for his mercye. 

Where E has mistakes like D alone : (34) thyng ; (230) dampned ; 
(254) Gud help. 

Where E has mistakes like B alone : (18) Lyfte your heued ; (33) 
thyng; (38) kyngdom euer ; (53) mekill baret brew; (54) And 
fast doun fell; (66) fro many ; (94) on j^ame lefes sees ; (151) till 
l^ame sail he ; (176) syn both ; (190) And drogh to gedir wt luf and 
selle ; (197) )>at he foore ; (200) I drawe to ded ; (228) That here 
in; (244) resouns ; ( 2 7 1 ) |)are be knawen ; (264) forgeten. 

Where E has mistakes like B and D: (100) sail brynges ; (182) 
God haues. 



NORTH -ENGLISH HOMILY COLLECTION I 5 

Where D has mistakes like A alone: 28^, 40, 66, 102^ 175, 203, 

232, 250, 262\ 265. 

Like B alone : 60, 74, 118, 188, 213^ 

Like G alone : 156', i66\ I72^ 194', 207, 
214. 

Like E alone : 34^, 230. 

Like A and E: 89. 

Like B and E : ioo\ 254^ 

Like G and E: 82, 211. 



I 6 G. H. GEROULD 



RELATIONS OF A*, B, D, F, AND G. 

Taking the 3d Sunday after Epiphany as the basis of comparison — 
Places where the MSS. have individual variations from the normal : — 
A*. (5) askid him ; (7 and 8) 07ily in A ; (12) on him was na 
wemme ; (14) him hele ; (20) ryche ; (26) ))e to|>er ; (29 and 30) 
entire; (49) hay then ; (50) wele mare ; (53) ))are criste ; (55) wan- 
hope ; (56) sarzynes ; (64) euene [C. steuene]; (65) ))are omitted; 
{(i(i) l^areeuer; (74) In j^e ; (80) brojt out; (89) had fra heuene ; 
(91) ]?e lepire ; (95) synne ; (97) And bolnynge ; (98) Es lepire 
callid })at som ; (106) godes ; (109) a gastely ; (no) sawle ; (112) 
for his; (120) full vncely ; (129) sente him; (130) of siluer gode 
wane; (131) j^aim in ; (141) sawe wele ; (151) For ])is ; (152) Lepir 
callid; (158) mesell man; (164) gerre synne ; (171) for; (177) 
open ; (185) ihesu vs ]?idir spede. 

B. (11) ))e make ; (14) hys hele ; (14 a and b) only in B ; (27) 
ane vn worthy ; (28) sail come ; (31) pi pouste ; (42) myght fullfylle 
(45) Vnto ; (56) And ]>ay };e payem j^t trowes ; (59) And mykell 
(60) And by este ; (67) our saw; (78) j^ar fore . . . hys selle 
(83) wyll I ]?e ; (84) bene clene ; (104) now confundes ; (105) 
whar men; (106) and prelatyes ; (112) hys clergy; (117) walde 
nane ; (118) bath synne; (122) of synne ; (126) For to; (128) 
walde he ])aim ; (138) Whyne coms ; (143) For why; (147) )?an 
hyght ; (152) haly wrythe ; (154) And to criste ; (158) vnhaly ; 
(161-166) 077iitted ; (178) A man to hell ; (179) loues ; (181) And 
pus if. 

D. (6) ])e folk ])t wer ; (12) anon no wem was; (19) And ]>an ; 
(28) f>t pu come ; (30) ben schal he ; (32) knyhtis haue ; (33) anon 
gop ; (34) sone to me; (39) wile a word; (62) ioye schul take; 
{^^2)) to heuene; {(id^ grennynge ; (68) pis day dop ; (70) pis good 
man anon ; (71) I haue; {^2) entire ; (74) anon; (75) of pis; (79) 
mad al ; (80) hate bote; (88) Man had not ben holpin ; (89) not 
to; (91) & synne; (93) For riht as a; (94) It makip vnhol and 
lotheli ; (96) foul & loth ; (97) foul pride ; (loo)ofkynd; (105-6) 
07nitted ; (107) For ping ; (109) Euer whan ; (in) sum tyme ; (122) 
& wip couetise for to craue ; (125) sente ; ( 1 2 8 ) he muste hem ; (134) 
& treccheri ; (138) Fro when he cam & what he had ; (139) sir nowhar ; 



NORTH-ENGLISH HOMILY COLLECTION 1 7 

(140) |)ar ; (143-4) 0}7iitted ; (147) be hihte ; (148) I jow plyhte ; 

(154) Crist com ; (156) Til crist com & away wipid it; (158) sike 
man; (161) So gostli he helid ; (162) j^orw ; (166) seyth J>is day ; 
(169-70) reversed; (171) lyuip ; (172) folower ; (178) to j^e fendis ; 
two additional lines at end. 

F. (6) felychepe [sic] ; (25) seruaundes ; (28) house com ; (31) 
haue men ; (34) Forth gase ; (42) yt myght fulfuU ; (45) forsoyth he 
sayde ; (49) wryten se ; (51) j^e Iwes [sic] ; (53) ]7e Iwes ; (55) And 
suld ; (66) mare be wt sar ; (68) In our gospell ; (73) seruaundes; 
(74) ]?ai vprase ; (76) tell may; (79) to make hell; (80) to bed 
hym ; (85) bot yf; (88) he bene ; (93) ])e body; (94) vncomly ; 
(99) And syn of; (104) now spilles o; (112) for fals ; (113) )>is 
bokes ; (115) ane halyman ; (118) \\. war; (123) And fast he ran; 
(130) fayr plente ; (135) ne omitted ; (136) o jar ; (141) ]7i vntryfte ; 
(142) som gyfte ; (148) Sa be fell; (160) tels to day; (162) for;, 
(175) Qwen fai folow ; (178) sathanas in; (184) any tene or. 

G. (6) tha fern [?] of folc ; (32) ic haf knihtes ; (^1^) worthi ; 
(42) fille ; (47) Imang jowes ; (52) the lau ; (65) ouer ; (74) he 
rase; (144) and sithen it helid; (146) mi shale ; (147) Helyseus 
hiht ; (177) fende. 

A* thus has 39 individual variations from the normal ; B has 36 ; 
D has 5 7 ; F has 40 ; and G has 1 1 . 

Places where A* has variations like B alone : (6) all pat folk ; (24) 
I come ; (39) an anlepi. 

Like D alone : (43) criste j^ogt ; (65) Putte in ; (152) in boke ; 

(155) Off adame lepire mankynde ; (180) self. 

Like F alone: {■Ti'i) to gange ; (35)vnto; (76) tonge ; (182) 
will vs lede. 

Like B and D : (9) j^are ; (93) mannes body ; (102) jje boke. 

Like B and F : (150) pe boke. 

Like D and F: (25) seruaunde ; (40) seruaunde ; (54) in; (73) 
seruaunde. 

LikeB, D, and F : (2) hill. 

Places where B has variations like F alone: (3) full many; (37) 
wel omitted; {()i) I'^to ]?air blys wt gud atent ; (64) turment ; (65) 
mekyll ; (72) For ]>e thar her; (78) perfore ; (no) Mar for gyfte 
]>an goddes mede ; ( 1 2 7 ) frendes twa ; (130) gret wan ; (i3i)dyde; 
(150) hys; (176) vn to. 

Like G alone : (169) Summe hys myrakyll. 



16 G. H. GEROULD 

Like D and F : (90) fra hym. 

Places where D has variations like F alone: (46) begins I; (59) 
p>e west; (112) symony ; (159) hil ; (165) hille ; (167) folewid ; 
(168) folowid. 

Like G alone : (33) And L 

Places where F has variations like G alone: (82) his benisoune ; 
(98 a and b) only in these MSS., but they disagree in form with each other. 

Notwithstanding the close relations which subsist between A and C, 
certain passages indicate contamination of one or the other MS.: — 

(13) A, B, and F have ]?is myracle fele, while C conforms to the 
normal; (70) C has kynght \sic'\ in company with B and F, while A 
conforms to the noi'-inal ; (75) ^ and D have gospell of todaye, while 
C conforms to the normal ; (137) C, D, F, and G omit full, while A 
does not ; (173) C agrees with D with folowes y^r loues, while A is 
normal. 

From the foregoing examination of these two homilies, the affiliation 
of the MSS. appears to be that represented by the following diagram : 




The inconsistencies which will be noticed by comparing the dia- 
gram with the tabulated variations are probably to be explained by the 
popularity of the collection and by the carelessness of ecclesiastical 
scribes who had the less regard for the form of the work since it was 
non-literary. That is, all the MSS. which are preserved, doubtless 
only a tithe of those which once existed, were quite evidently made 
for actual use by priests in their homiletic labors. For the form and 
literary finish of the homilies they would care nothing, even though 
regard for such matters had been characteristic of the time. This 
carelessness renders it uncommonly difficult to disentangle the rela- 
tions of the surviving MSS. 



y^ 



NORTH-ENGLISH HOMILY COLLECTION 1 9 



FRAGMENTS. 

Bodleian fragments, MS. Eng. poet, c 4, bought from Quaritch in 
1895 and identified by Professor Napier, contain Narr. of St. Oswald 
from Dom. XI. post Trin. in part. It follows Ash. 42 rather closely 
and certainly belongs to the group A, B, C, D, F. 

The Robartes fragment I have not seen. 



■mi 



20 G. H. GEROULD 



PART II. 

ANALYSIS OF TALES AND NOTES ON THEIR 

ORIGIN. 

NOTE. 

I have verified all the references contained in the following notes, 
except in a few cases, where I have always referred to my authority. I 
have put the titles of the stories which are taken from the Bible in 
their proper places, but have done nothing further with them. The 
tales are treated in the order in which they appear in the collection. 

LIST OF TALES. 

1. Mary Magdelayne. 

2. The Monk who Returned from Death.^ 

3. Death of John the Baptist. 

4. Pilgrim to St. James. 

5. St. Martin and the Devil. 

6. St. Anthony and the Snares. 

7. St. Machary. 

8. The Archbishop and the Nun. 

9. The Three Kings. 

10. St. John and the Boy. 

11. Birth of St. Thomas. 

12. Gyezi and Naaman. 

13. The Usurious Knight. 

14. The Devil as Physician. 

15. The Hermit Who Returned to the World. 

16. The Monk Mawryne. 

17. St. Bernard and the Peasant. 

18. St. Eustace. , 

19. The Uncharitable Hermit. 

20. The Knight Beguiled by the Devil. 

21. St. Bede and the Birds. 

22. Piers Toller. 

23. The Hermit and the Thieves. 



> 



NORTH-ENGLISH HOMILY COLLECTION 2T 

24. The Man in the Devil's Leash. 

25. St. Martin's Cloak. 

26. The Devil in Church. 

27. St. Edmund and the Devil. 

28. Theobald and the Leper. 

29. The Monk who Prayed to See the Joys of Heaven. 

30. The Mother and Her Sons. 

3 1 . Carpus. 

32. The Melancholy King and His Brother. 

33. The Obedient Servant. 

34. Taysis. 

35. The Hermit and the Angel. 
2,6. Story of Creation. 

37. The Monk who was Harsh in Judging. 

38. The Hermit and St. Oswald. 

39. Theophil. 

40. The Adulterous Priest. 

41. The Thrifty Gardener. 

42. The Wicked Brother of a Monk. 

43. St. Pelagia. 

44. The Knight who Forgave His Enemy. 

45. St. Gregory and Trajan's Soul. 

46. The Imprisoned Jews. 

47. Tarsilla, Gordiana and Emiliana. 

48. The Despised Nun. 

49. The Backbiting Monk. 

50. The Story of Esther. 

51. The Widow's Candle. 

52. The Prioress who was Miraculously Delivered. 

53. St. Alexis. 

54. Simon Magus. 

55. The Wise Son. 



2 2 G. H. GEROULD 



PARTIAL LIST OF BOOKS AND ARTICLES USED 
IN PREPARATION OF NOTES. 

Acta Sa?ictoru7Ji, ed. Bollandists, Antwerp. 

Aelfric, Metrical Lives of Saints, ed. Skeat, E. E. T. S., Grig. ser. 

(1881-1900). 
Bourbon (Etienne de), Anecdotes Historiques, etc., ed. Lecoy de la 

Marche, 1877. 
Bozon (Nicole de), Les Contes Moralises, ed. Smith and Meyer, So- 

ciete des Anciens Textes Fran^ais, 1889. 
Brandeis (Arthur), qA. Jacof s Well, PartL, E. E. T. S., 1900. 
Bromyard (Johannes), Suimna JPrcedicantium, Antonius Koberger, 

NiJrnberg, 1485. 
Cantipratanus (Thomas), Bonum Universale de Apibus, Duaci, 1605 

and 1627. 
Cassianus (Johannes), Collationes, Migne, Patr. Curs. Lat. t. xlix. 
Clemens Alexandrinus, Historia Ecclesiastica, etc. , Migne, Patr. Curs. 

Lat. t. IX. 
Coincy (Gautier de). Miracles de la Sainte Vierge, ed. I'Abbe Po- 

quet, 1857. 
Conde (Jehan de), Le Dit die Roi et des Hermites, ed. Scheler, in 

Dits et Contes de B. de Conde, 1866-7. 
Cornu (J.) ed. Traite de Devotion (^Extraits) (from MS. 266, BibL 

d'Alcobaca Torre de Tombo, Lisbon), Romania XL, p. 381. 
Crane (T. F.), ed. Jacques de Vitry : Exempla, Folk-Lore Soc, 

1890. 
Crane (T. F. ), ed. Medieval Sermon Books and Stories, 1883. 
Eude de Cheriton, Fables and Serinons, cf. Hervieux. 
Foerster (W.) and Koschwitz (E.), Altfranzosisches Ubungsbuch, 1884. 
Furnivall (F. J.), ed. Robert of Brimne' s Handlying Synne with the 

French Treatise on Which it is Founded Le Manuel des Pechiez by 

William of Waddington, Roxb. Club, 1862. 
Furnivall (F. J.), ed. Adam Daviess Dreams, E. E. T. S. Grig. Ser., 

1878. 
Gaster (M. ), Chronicles of Jerahmeel, Royal Asiatic Soc, 1899. 
Gaster (M.) An Old Hebrew Romance of Alexander, Journal Royal 

Asiat. Soc, 1897. 



^ 



NORTH-ENGLISH HOMILY COLLECTION 23 

Godric (St.), De Vita S. Godrid, Surtees Soc, 1845. 

Gregory the Great, Hojnilies and Dialogues^ Migne, Pair. Cw's. Lat., 

LXXVL, LXXVII. 
Gregory of Tours, Opera, Migne, Fatr. Curs. Lat., LXXI. 
Guibert de Nogent, Opera Omnia, ed. Luc d' Archery, Paris, 165 1. 
Hagen (Fried. Hein. von der), Gesam7ntabenteuer, 1850. 
Hampson, Medii Aevi Calendarium. 

Heisterbach {Qz.^^^XNOXi),Dialogus MiraciUoricm,^^. J. Strange, 185 1. 
Henczynski (Richard), Leben des Heil. Alexius, Acta Germanica, 

Band VI. 
Henry of Huntingdon, Historia Angloruin, ed. Arnold, Mast, of 

Rolls Ser., 1879. 
Herolt (John), Serinones Discipuli de Tempore et de Sanctis, Mogun- 

tiae, 161 2. 
Herolt (John), Sermones Discipuli Quadragesimales, Moguntise, 

1612. 
^Herolt (John), Promptuarium Exemplorum, Rothmagi, 15 11. 
Hervieux (Leopold), Les Fabulistes Latins, Paris, 1893-99. 
Herz (Joseph), De St. Alexis, Frankfurt, 1879. 
Herzfeld (George), An Old English Martyrology, E.E.T.S. Grig. 

Ser., 1900.. 
Holkot (Robertus), Opus super Sapientiani Salonio7iis, Speyer, 1483. 
Horstmann (Carl), Barbour' s Legendensa7nnilu7ig, 1881— 2. 
Horstmann (Carl), Die Legende7i des Hs. Laud 108, E.E.T.S., 1872. 
Horstmann (Carl), Early South- E7iglish Legendary, E.E.T.S., 1887. 
Horstmann (Carl), Osbern Boke7ia77i^ s Legende7t, 1883. 
Horstmann (Carl), Sa7n77ilung Altenglische Legenden, Neue Folge, 

1881. 
Horstmann (Carl), tJber Osbe7'n Boke7ia77i luid seine Legendensa77i77i- 

lu7ig, 1883. 
Horstmann (Carl), Zwei Alexiics-Lege7ide7i, Herrig's Archiv, Bd. 

LVL 
Horstmann (Carl), Leben des h. Alexius, Herrig's Archiv, Bd. LL 
Hugh de Saint-Victor, Opera 07nnia, Rouen, 1648 (Migne, Patr. 

Curs. Lat., CLXXV-CLXXVII). 
Jacobus Diaconus, Vita S. Pelagice (Migne, Patr. Curs. Lat., LXXIIL, 

col. 664). 
Jacobus a Voragine, Lege7ida Aurea, ed. Th. Graesse, 1859. 
Jacobus a Voragine, Lege7ide Doree, trans. Jean de Vignay, Paris, 

Verard, 1493. 



2 4 G. H. GEROULD 

Jacobus a Voragine, Legende Doree, trans. M. G. B. (Brunet), 1843. 

Jacobus a Voragine, Golden Legend, trans. Caxton. 

Jacobus a Voragine, Festialis, comp. John Mirkus, 1495. 

Jacques de Vitry, see Crane, ed. 

Johannes Junior, Scala Celt, Argentinae, 1483. 

Jubinal (Achille), Nouveau Recueil de Contes, Dits, et Fabliaux. 

Keller (Adalbert von), Erzdhlungen aus Altd. Hss., Bibl. des Litt. 

Ver. zu Stuttgart, 1855. 
Le Grand d'Aussy, Fabliaux ou Contes du XII^ et du XIII* Siecle 

1781. 
Liebrecht (YeMx) , John Dmtlop' s Geschichte der Prosadictungen, 1851. 
Luard (Henry R. ), ed. Flores Historiaritm, Mast, of Rolls Ser. , 1890. 
Magnum Speculitm Fxemplorum, Tfoudici, 1603. 
Marbodes, Opera, ed. Bourasse, Migne, Fatr. Curs. Lat., CLXXI. 

col. 1465. 
Martene and Durand, Thesaurus Anecdotoruin, Paris, 171 7. 
Maurice de Sulli, Les Expositions des Fva?tgiles en Frangoys, Chablis 

1489. 
Maurice de Sulli, Evangiles et Epitres, Chambery, 1484. 
Maurice de Sulli, Les Manuscrits des Sermons Frangais, Paul Meyer 

in Ro77iania V., p. 466. 
Meon, Fabliaux et Contes (after Barbazan), Paris, 1808. 
Meon, Nouveau Recueil de Fabliaux et Contes, etc., Paris, 1823. 
Metcalfe (W. M.), ed., Legends of the Saints, Scot. Text Soc. , 1887-96. 
Meyer (P.), ed.. La Vie de S. Gregoire par Frere Angler, Ro?nania 

XII., p. 186. 
Mielot (Jean), Miracles' de Nostre-Dame, ed. G. F. Warner, Roxb. 

Club, 1885. 
Migne, Patrologia Cursus Completus Latina. 
Migne, Patrologia Cursus Completus Grace a. 

Montaiglon and Raynaud, eds. Recueil des FabliaiLx, 6 tomes, 1872-90. 
Morris (R.), ed., B tickling Homilies, E.E.T.S. Orig. Ser., 1874-1880. 
Mussafia (A.), Studien zu den mittelalterlichen Marienlegenden, I.-V. 

(Sitzungsberichte der K. Akad. der Wissenschaft. ), Wien, 1887- 

1898. 
Mussafia (A.), Ueber die vo?i Gautier de Coincy benutzten Quellen 

(Denkschriften der K. Akad. der Wissen. Phil. Hist. Classe Bd. 

44), Wien, 1896. 
Neckam (Alexander), ed. T. Wright, Mast, of Rolls Ser., 1863. 
Oesterley (H.), ed., Gesta Romanormji, 1872. 



NORTH-ENGLISH HOMILY COLLECTION 25 

Oesterley (H.), ed., ScJmnpf und Ernst Johannes Patcli (Bibl. des 

Litt. Ver. in Stuttgart, Bd. 85). 
Paraldus (Gulielmus), Summa Virtiitiun ac Vitiorzwi, Basel, 1497. 
Paris (Gaston), ed.. Vie de Sai?it Alexis (Bibl. de I'Ecole des Hautes 

Etudes, 1872). 
Paris (Gaston) and Pannier (Leopold), the same enlarged, 1887. 
Paris (Gaston), Wilham de Wadington, Hist. Litt. de la Fj^ance, 

XXVIIL, p. 179. 
Paris (Paulin), Manns crits Frangais. 
Pez (Bernardus), Ven. Agnetis Blannekiii-" Vita-- Liber de Miraculis 

Sanctae-'-Mariae, Vienna, 1731. 
Pilz (Oskar), Beitrdge zur Kenntniss der Altfranzosische?! Fabliaux, 

1889. 
Roger of Wendover, Chronica, ed. Hewlett, Mast, of Rolls Ser., 

1886-89. 
Ruteboeuf, Oeuvres, ed. Jubinal, 1839. 
Ruteboeuf, Gedichte, ed. Kraessner, 1885. 

Skeat (W. W.), cf. Wars of Alexander, E. E. T. S., Ext. Ser., 1886. 
Steele (R.), ed.. Seer eta Secretorui7i, E.E.T.S., Ex. Ser., 1898. 
Stengel, La Cangun de Saint Alexis, 1882. 
Symeon of Durham, Opera Omnia (for Vita S. Oswaldt), ed. T. 

Arnold, Mast, of Rolls Ser., 1882. 
Thomas Becket, Materials for the LListory of T. B., ed. J. C. Robert- 
son, Mast, of Rolls Ser., 1875-85. 
Thomas Becket, Thomas Saga Erkibyskups, ed. Magnusson, Mast, of 

Rolls Ser., 1875. 
Ulrich (J.), ed. Gautier de Coincy, Zeitschrift filr ro7?i. Phil., VI., 

334- 

Vincentius Bellovacensis, Speculum Quadruptex, Douai, 1624. (^Spec- 
ulum Morale not his, however, see E. Boutaric, Revue des Ques- 
tions Historiques, t. XVII., p. 5.) 

Vitce Patru7n, Rosweydus, Ruffinus, etc., etc. {Migne Patr. Curs. 
Lat., LXXIII). 

Vitas Patrum, Caxton, Westminster, 1495. 

William of Malmesbury, Gesta Poritificum Angloru?n, ed. Hamilton, 
Mast, of Rolls Ser., 1870. 

Wright (Thomas), A Selection of Latin Stories, Percy Soc, 1842. 



26 



G. H. GEROULD 



LIST OF UNEDITED (WHOLLY OR IN PART) MSS. 
USED IN PREPARATION OF NOTES. 



\ 



MSS. 



MSS. 




Bibl. Nat. lat. 2333 A. 




[5267. 




5268. 




5562. 




6845. 




6845 4.4. 




12593. 




14463. 




14464. 




15913. 




17491. 




18134. 




18168. 




Bibl. Nat. fran. 375. 




410 (anciens fonds, 


7018O. 


819 (anciens fonds, 


7208^) 


834 (anciens fonds, 


7215')- 


Brit. lyCus. Arundel 506. 




'' ^^ Cott. Cleop. C. 10. 




'' '' Cott. Cleop. D. 9. 




" " " Jul. D. 9. 




^' " Harl. 2277. 




^'^ '* '' 2316. 




** " Add. 11284. 




^' " '' 26770. 





Balliol College 240. 



NORTH-ENGLISH HOMILY COLLECTION 27 



TALES AND SOURCES 

(i) Mary Magdelayne : Biblical. 

( 2 ) The Monk who returned from death : 

The officer in charge of the infirmary of an abbey of ''black 
monks ' ' had a friend, a ' ' cloister monk, ' ' who was strongly attached 
to him. He fell mortally sick, and during a visit from his friend he 
promised that if he died he would return to tell how he fared, were he 
permitted. After his decease the friend prayed for tidings from the 
dead. At length, while the monk was sleeping, his fellow came back 
and said that he fared well through the help of the Virgin, without 
whose aid he should have gone to hell. The other marvelled at this, 
since the man had been considered holy during his lifetime. He said 
in reply that after death he was led to judgment before Christ and, as 
he stood trembling, heard devils upbraid him. He was then compelled 
to read the Rule of St. Benedict and to answer for each of its clauses. 
He would certainly have been damned but for the intercession of Mary 
whom he had loved in life. She besought Christ that he be sent to 
purgatory. So he was in a fair way to be cleansed of sin but still 
asked his friend to have the brothers pray for his soul. 

This tale belongs to a group in which spiritualism and the worship 
of the Virgin are both taught. I have found some fifteen stories which 
obviously belong to the group, though no one reproduces every detail 
of any other, nor does any one contain all the characteristics which 
mark the group. This family can be separated, however, from the 
great body of stories which grew up in the twelfth century about the 
cult of the Virgin. It has five points which appear in various com- 
binations through all the members of the group, (i) An agreement 
between two friends (monks or clerks) that the one who dies first shall 
appear to the survivor ; (2) a return from death ; (3) a message from 
the devil ; (4) a token or mark given the living man either by friend 
or devil ; and ( 5 ) the news of the damnation of the dead or his salva- 
tion. Beside these general traits, there are, of course, numerous minor 
characteristics which vary widely in the individual tales and which 
need not be considered in grouping the family as a whole. 



28 G. H. GEROULD 

On the basis of this analysis the stories which I have found arrange 
themselves into seven sub-families, each composed of from one to six 
members. I will indicate these sub-families by the first seven letters 
of the alphabet and under them for convenience treat each story as it 
falls into place. 

A. This group is represented only by the version of the Met. Horn. 
Of the five points enumerated it has nos. (i), (2), (5). 

B. This group has four representatives, a story in the Speculum 
Histoi'iale by Vincent de Beauvais, lib. xxv. cap. 89 ; another in 
Bozon's Contes Moralises, no. 93 (ed. Smith and Meyer, p. 115) ; 
a third in the collection improperly ascribed to Jacques de Vitry (see 
Crane, Jacqices de Vitry, p. L. ) which is contained in MS. Bibl. Nat. 
lat. 18134, no. 132, fol. 237(a) ; and finally one in MS. Bibl. Nat. 
lat. 15913, fol. 141(a). 

The story of Vincent de Beauvais, which is the original of Bozon's 
tale according to M. Meyer (Bozon, p. 269) has, however, less resem- 
blance to it than the versions of MS. lat. 18 134, and MS. lat. 159 13. 
It omits one trait which the others have, viz., the message from the 
devil. The story is this : Two clerks at Nantes agree that the one 
who dies first shall appear to the survivor. Soon after one of them 
sickens, dies, and later appears to his fellow saying that he is eternally 
damned and showing in proof of it his hand on which was written 
an infernal letter. This appears under the rubric ' ' Guillelmus in 
chronicis ' ' and is said to have taken place in the reign of William 
Rufus. 

The MS. versions (both of the XIII. century) give no date for the 
legend but place it **in quadam civitate britannie que nannetis voca- 
tur. ' ' Here the clerks promise to return on the thirtieth day after 
death. The ghost appears as agreed and shows his friend his hand on 
which is written a letter of salutation from Satan to the prelates thank- 
ing them that they let their people perish. The version of Bozon is 
like these two except that it does not state the place where the event 
occurred, nor the time after death of the apparition. In none of these 
three is the damnation of the clerk expressly stated. 

This group has, then, all the five chief points of the story, but no 
one member has them all. 

C. This group has four representatives, a story in the Bonum Uni- 
versale de Apibus by Cantipratanus (ti 260-1 280), I. 20, 8; another 
in a sermon by Eude de Cheriton ( ist part of XIII. century) for Dom. 
I. post Oct. Pasche (printed by Meyer, p. 269); 2SiO\h.^x\Ti Libra de los 



,\ 



NORTH-ENGLISH HOMILY COLLECTION 29 

JEnxemplos, CXXV. (analyzed by Crane, Jacques de Vitry, p. 135); 
and finally one in the Exeinpla of Jacques de Vitty (ed. Crane, no. 

II., p. I). 

The story is given with the fullest detail in Cantiprataniis. A clerk, 
disturbed at having to preach before a synod of distinguished bishops, 
is interviewed by the devil, who makes a mark on his face for a token 
and tells him to preach thus: " Principes infernalium tenebrarum 
principes ecclesiae salutant, etc." The clerk did so and was believed 
on account of the token. The versions of Eude de Cheriton and of 
the Libra de los Enxeniplos are as follows : The devil in form of a 
man sent a message to an archbishop by a layman (the customary 
letter) and as a token struck the man on his face. The devil's mark 
is only removed when the archbishop sprinkles it with holy water. 
Jacques de Vi try's version is simpler. The demon wrote to certain 
negligent prelates in Sicily a letter (the customary letter). 

This group contains the story in its simplest form. Of the five 
points it has only (3) and (4) as a group, and one member (Jacques 
de Vitry) has only (3). Perhaps through a typographical error Pro- 
fessor Crane says on p. cxii of his introduction that no. 93 of Bozon 
corresponds to no. I. of his Jacques de Vitry collection. He means, 
of course, no. II. But, as we have seen, the story in Bozon belongs 
to a different group. 

D. Of this subdivision there is but one representative, Caesar von 
Heisterbach (Cistercian of the XIII. century) Dialogus Miraculorum, 
dist. I. cap. XXXII. (ed. Strange, I., p. 39). Two students of the 
black art at Toletus agree, when one is dying, that he shall appear to 
the survivor twenty days after death. On the appointed day the 
friend sat in a church reading psalms before the image of Mary for the 
dead man's soul. The latter appeared, told his friend that he himself 
was damned, and counselled him to enter the Cistercian order whence 
fewest souls come to hell. 

Here we have points ( i ) , ( 2 ) and ( 5 ) , though they are somewhat 
obscured by the different dressing of the tale. 

E. This group has two representatives, one of which is repeated 
with little variation in a great number of medieval collections. This 
is the story of the dissolute monk at Pavia, found in Mielot, Miracles 
de Nostre Dame, no. 11 (ed. Roxb. Club, p. 11), Etienne de Bour- 
bon (^Anecdotes d^ Etienne de Bourbon, ed. Lecoy de la Marche, p. 
99), MS. Balliol 240 (no. 25), etc. The other representative is found 
in Scala C<?// of Johannes Junior, De predicatore, fol. 139(a). 



30 G. H. GEROULD 

The former story is this : A dissolute monk at Pavia died, and a 
year after death appeared to his friend the sacristan, telling him that 
he had been in torment but was now released, because of his devotion 
to the Virgin, and that he was going to heaven. It will be seen that 
this has all the essential features of the Met. Horn, story, barring the 
agreement before death. 

The latter tale (that oi Scala Celi') is slightly different. A preacher 
appeared to a companion after death and told him that he had been 
seized by two sorts of devils but had been released by Jesus Christ. 
This is referred to Caesar, but is not the story referred to von Heister- 
bach under D. 

This subdivision has only characteristics (2) and (5). 

F. This subdivision has two representatives, from Le Manuel des 
Pechiez by William of Wadington and from the translation of that 
treatise by Robert of Brunne, Handlyng Symie (ed. Furnivall, p. 
72). A knight who has robbed a poor man of a rich cloth dies. 
After death he appears to a friend and asks him to relieve him of the 
pain of the cloth, which lies upon him like a mountain. The friend 
proposes several priests who will ' sing ' him out of pain, but the 
ghost says that all these are unclean. At last the friend suggests a 
good priest, and the dead man agrees. He marks the thigh of his 
friend so that the bone shows but does not hurt him. The living 
friend afterwards goes on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. 

With all its curious dress this story has plainly points (2) and (4). 
Again as in A and B the token is given by the dead man rather than 
by a devil. 

G. There is but one representative of this subdivision. It occurs 
in Herolt, Sermones de Tempore, Sermo 160. A friend promises a 
sick man to say a mass for his soul immediately after he dies. The 
friend does so, but the dead appears reproaching him with delaying 
twenty years. The friend tells the ghost that his body is not yet 
buried, so they conclude that the pains of purgatory are severe. This 
curious tale, which is the converse of that of Monk Felix (see no. 29) 
has characteristics (i) and (2), though the agreement before death is 
of an unusual kind and the return from death for a different pur- 
pose. 

On account of the great freedom with which this family of stories 
has been treated it is impossible to tell whence our author took his 
version. A probable conjecture would be that he found it in some 
collection of Mary legends, the compiler of which had changed the 



V 



'WT^l 



NORTH-ENGLISH HOMILY COLLECTION 3 1 

ending of the story as told in B {e. g., MS. Bibl. Nat. lat. 18134) to 
suit the nature of his book. 

The following table shows the relationship of the various subdivisions : 

Groups which have : 

(i) Agreement (2) Appearance (3) Message (4) Token given (5) Damnation 
before death. after death. from devil. by ghost or devil, or salvation 

of dead. 



A 


A 






A 


B 


B 


B 
C 


B 
C 


B 


D 

G 


D 
E 
F 
G 




F 


D 
E 



(3) Death of John Baptist : Biblical. 

(4) The Pilgrim to St. James : 

A certain man, on the day when he was going to set out on a pil- 
grimage to St. James, made a feast to his relatives and friends. In 
the gaiety of the occasion he fell into deadly sin with a woman and 
forthwith went his way. The fiend, who had caused him to sin, met 
him in the likeness of St. James and asked where he was going. He 
told him. The devil said: ^'lame saynt Jame ]?t spekes wi]) ])e 
. . . ]n uiage es noyt worthe a leke." He further commanded the 
pilgrim to castrate and slay himself if he wished to go to heaven. 
When this was done, the fiend took the soul and made off toward hell 
but was met by Saint Peter and Saint James. The latter demanded 
the soul on the ground that the pilgrim thought he was serving him in 
his crime. The dispute was by the advice of Peter taken before Mary 
for arbitration. She decided that it was only just that the man return 
to life to cleanse his sins through penance. To this the devil sorrow- 
fully agreed, so the man revived, became a monk, and a devout ser- 
vant of Our Lady. He carried the marks of his deed till he died. 
This story he told his abbot. His name was Gerard. 

This is one of the most wide-spread legends of the Middle Ages. It 
is found with slight variations in almost innumerable collections of Mary 
legends, of exempla, and of pious treatises. It is usually referred to 
St. Hugh, Abbot of Cluny, who lived from 1023 to 1108. Unfortu- 
nately none of his writings are extant save a few letters. Whether we 



32 G. H. GEROULD 

must believe that this Hugo first told the story seems somewhat doubt- 
ful in view of the fact that a very similar tale is in many cases told 
together with it, but attributed to Hugh of St. Victor. Yet that it 
came into popular notice through Hugh of Cluny admits of little doubt. 
All things considered, one can safely say that the legend arose in the 
south of France. Though it was well known in England through ec- 
clesiastical writings it continued to be peculiarly a French legend. 
In France it was immensely popular, as is proved by the fact that scenes 
from it were carved on the outside of several cathedrals. The south 
portal of Notre-Dame de Paris and the cathedral at Soissons are exam- 
ples of this. 

The pilgrimage to the shrine of St. James at Santiago de Compostella 
in Galicia was a very popular one, as is witnessed by many references 
in medieval writings. See the reference in Chaucer's Prologue, v. 
465, and in Langland's Piers Plowfnan (ed. Skeat, C. Pass. I. v. 48). 
The sign of the pilgrimage was a scallop-shell (Chamber's Book of Days, 
!•> 33^)7 j^st as the cross was the sign of the pilgrimage to the Holy 
Land. There are several other legends related of pilgrims to 
this shrine. 

The attention of scholars was drawn to the legend by publication of 
an abstract in the collection of Le Grand d' Aussy {^Fabliaux et Contes, 
vol. v., p. 58). For the literature of the subject the work of Mussafia 
is invaluable, especially for the MS. versions. See Studien zu den 
mittelalt. Marienlegenden, /., /. 10. He has, however, made no 
general classification, nor has he examined all the versions which he 
cites. I have examined about twenty-five examples of the legend, 
several of which were unknown to him. I shall class them for con- 
venience under the following divisions. 

A. Among the works formerly attributed to Anselm of Canterbury 
\?i 2. Miraculum Grande Sancti Jacob (Migno., Pair. Curs. Lat., CLIX., 
col. 337). As a version of the eleventh century, and probably the 
representative of the group which stands nearest the original form it 
deserves careful analysis. A young tailor of Lyons (Ludunensis) 
named Giraldus, the son of a widow and himself a bachelor, planned 
to make a pilgrimage to St. James. Before his departure he made a 
feast and lay with a woman. None the less he set out with two com- 
panions. They overtook a mendicant pilgrim who joined them. 
After a few days the devil ' * in humana forma satis honesta, ' ' appeared 
to Giraldus and reproached him that he had set out without confes- 
sion. The youth determined to go back, when the devil appeared 



NORTH-ENGLISH HOMILY COLLECTION 33 

again as St. James and counselled him to unsex himself. Giraldus 
argued that if he did so he must kill himself also. To this the devil 
agreed, and ironically added that he would be at hand with his angels 
to conduct the soul to paradise. That night, while his companions 
slept, the youth mutilated and stabbed himself. His friends awoke 
and fled, for fear of being accused of murder. While the people of 
the inn were preparing the body for burial the dead man revived and 
told his tale as in the Met. Horn. Except that Mary is said to have been 
seated over St. Peter's at Rome. After resting for three days the 
pilgrim proceeded on his way, met his companions, and told them the 
story. They reported it at his home. On his return Hugh of Cluny and 
many others saw him with all the signs of his experience about him. 
This version is treated by Mussafia, Studie7i zu mittletalt. Marienlegen- 
de?i, L, p. 17, who states that it is found in ^'Sermo de conceptione 
B. M." by Anselm. There is a story of a pilgrim in that sermon, but 
it is altogether independent of this. 

Another very early version of the legend is that contained in MS. 
Bibl. Nat. lat. 14464 as no. 5 of a collection of miracles attributed to 
Calixtus. The authenticity of this attribution to Calixtus II. has been 
disproved like that to Anselm in the version above. See Hist. litt. de 
la Frajice, X., p. 532. Yet as Calixtus died in 11 24, and the version 
attributed to him was certainly written by some contemporary of his, 
it must be nearly of the same period as St. Hugh of Cluny. It does 
not greatly differ from the spurious Anselm. The youth was accus- 
tomed to go each year to the shrine of St. James. The three pilgrims 
took with them an ass, with which the friends made off after the sui- 
cide. The dispute between the apostles and the devil is given in great 
detail as well as the trial before the Virgin. She is curiously described 
as of medium height and fair complexion. A translation of this ver- 
sion is found in MS. Bibl. Nat. fran. 834, fol. 13(a). The MS. is of 
the late 13th or early 14th cent., but the translation was first made at 
Beauvais in 121 2, at the command of Comtesse Yolent de Saint-Pol, 
by a certain Pierre in the time of '^Phillipe le puissant vesque de 
beauvais" (cf. P. Paris, Manuscrits fran^ais, VI., p. 393). It is 
curious that this translation should bear the title (Translation de 
Saint-Jacques) of one of the four supposedly spurious sermons of 
Calixtus (see Migne, Fat?-. Curs. Lat., CLXIIL, col. 1365, also Hist, 
litt. above cited) and at the same time should contain the miracles (in 
translation) of the collection contained in MS. lat. 14464. 



34 



G. H. GEROULD 



Vincent of Beauvais, who made his compilation about the middle of 
the 13th cent., apparently took his version of the legend from this so- 
called Calixtus, though he refers only to St. Hugh. The only varia- 
tion which he makes is that he does not name the pilgrim. 

Only a little later in date is the version of Jacobus Voragine, 
Lege7ida Aurea, cap. XCIX. (ed. Graesse, p. 427), who gives the 
story immediately after a similar one attributed to Hugh of St. Victor, 
of which I shall speak later. This version belongs with the pseudo- 
Calixtus and the Vincentius. The trade of the pilgrim is not men- 
tioned, nor the fact that he supported his widowed mother. As in 
Vincent he is not named. The story occurs in the French translation 
made at the end of that century by Jean de Vignay , fol. 1 2 6 ( a) . It is also 
found in Caxton's Golden Legend, which was translated from de Vignay. 

In the Alphab. Narr. of ]£tienne de Besangon, MS. Bibl. Nat. lat. 
1 59 1 3, fol. 43(a), the stories attributed to Hugh of St. Victor and 
Hugh of Cluny are given in the same order as by Voragine. The 
legend of the pilgrim is here told very briefly, but appears to be from 
the same source, if not from Voragine himself. It makes this change 
however in regard to the sin. The pilgrim is spoken of as '' in itinere 
fornicanti." 

B. This group is well represented by a version in MS. Bibl. Nat. 
lat. 181 34, fol. 88(b), Libellum de Be at a Virgine Maria, no. 132. 
Giraldus, a monk of Cluny, according to St. Hugh, while still a lay- 
man prepared to make the pilgrimage to St. James. Before departure 
he lay with his mistress, then set out accompanied by his friends. 
When he had gone a little way he was met by the devil. The rest of 
the events follow the order in Met. Horn., except that the judgment 
seat of the Virgin was over St. Peter's. 

The legend is found with only slight verbal difference from the 
above in many other Mir acuta Virginis. The MSS. in the following 
list are of the 12th and the 13th centuries, and vary little in form of 
this legend which they give. 

MS. Bibl. 



Nat. lat. 


14463, 


fol. 


13(b), 


Mir. 


Vir. no. 


18. 








5267, 


fol. 


30(a), 


a 


" no. 


8, p. 


il. 




iC 


(( 


fol. 


54(b), 


a 


'' no. 


6, p. 


iii 






I749I, 


fol. 


39(a), 


a 


" no. 


15, P- 


ii. 






2333A, 


fol. 


31(b). 














5268, 


fol. 


22(b), 


(( 


" no. 


26. 








I8I68, 


fol. 


84(b). 














5562, 


fol. 


28(a), 




no. 


so- 





y^ 



NORTH-ENGLISH HOMILY COLLECTION 35 

MS. Brit. Mus. Cott. Cleop.' C lo, fol. 120(b), lib. II. no. 8. 

'* ^' ^' Arundel 346, fol. 62(a), no. 7. 

'' Balliol College 240, no. 21. 
It appeared in this form as no. 61 in the fifteenth century prose 
translation, contained by MS. Bibl. Nat. fran. 410, fol. 34(a). 

C. There is a prolix version in rhymed Latin verse, \vritten by 
Gaiferius Casinensis about 1060. Printed by Migne, Fair. Curs. Lai. 
CXLVIL, col. 1285. A simple youth — not named — of Lyons fell 
into sin on the way to St. James, was easily deluded, etc. The com- 
panions are barely mentioned. This version seems to have an inde- 
pendent origin. 

D. Another early version which stands by itself is that of Guibert 
de Nogent (f 1124), De Vita Sua, lib. III., cap. 18 (ed. Luc 
d' Archery, p. 521, also printed by Poquet, Miracles de la Sai?ife 
Vierge, p. 290). A young man, not named, had been living in sin 
with a woman. Afterwards he started on a pilgrimage to St. James 
but unfortunately carried with him the girdle of the woman. He was 
met by the devil in disguise, and commanded to mutilate and kill him- 
self. While his companions pray beside the corpse at the inn he re- 
vives and tells the usual story. The author says that he had the tale 
from an old monk Joffredus {Samurensis . . . castri et aliorum castro- 
rum in Burgundia doininus fuit) , who said that he had it from the 
man himself. 

E. A slightly different version is the metrical one of Gautier de 
Coincy who died before the middle of the thirteenth century. Printed 
by Poquet, p. 292, and by Meon, Nouveau Recueil, p. 147, though 
the latter gives neither author nor manuscript. St. *^Hue de Clingni " 
is the authority. A rich man of Bourgogne, warmed by wine, sinned 
with a woman. He was disconcerted, but after mass next morning 
started on a pilgrimage to St. James. He is represented as simple 
and easily deluded, like the youth in C. Further course of events as 
in Met. Horn. 

F. The story attributed to Hugh of St. Victor, above referred to, is 
this. A pilgrim is persuaded by the devil in the likeness of St. James 
to kill himself for the sake of obtaining heavenly bliss. The man at 
whose house he was staying is accused of murder but saved by the pil- 
grim's resurrection. The latter relates that he was snatched from the 
devil by St. James who prevailed upon God to send him back to 

* Cited by Mussafia as Cleop. 20. 



36 G. H. GEROULD 

earth. The pilgrim is not named, and there is no mutilation. This 
occurs in Legenda Aurea, cap XCIX. (ed. Graesse, p. 427), and in 
Alphabetum Narrationuin, MS. Bibl. Nat. lat. 15913, fol. 43(a). 
With a slight variation it is also found in the 14th century, Scala Cell, 
by Johannes Junior, De peregrinatione, fol. 136(a). The pilgrim 
kills himself, at the devil's instigation, to escape the perils of the 
world. There is no reference to suspicions attaching to the host. 
The pilgrim revives among his weeping companions. 

The place of the Met. Horn, version among these groups seems to 
be with B. At first sight it would be natural to say that our author 
found the legend in Voragine, where a large number of his tales are 
also told, but internal evidence points to the former view. Gerard 
seems to be a stock name for pilgrims. It occurs again in story of a 
pilgrim to St. Thomas found 'vs\ Alph. Narr., MS. Bibl. Nat. lat. 
15913, fol. 68(b), and in Scala Celt, fol. 136(b). 

(5) Saint Martin and the Devil : 

In the life of St. Martin it is written that while he was at prayer the 
fiend came to him in the form of a king. The devil said that he was 
Christ and urged the Saint to worship him. But Martin through 
grace knew that it was the fiend and meekly answered that not till 
death should he see the Lord. At this meek reply the devil disappeared 
in smoke. 

The original of this legend is found in the life of St. Martin of Tours 
by Sulpicius Severus, lib. I., par. 24 (Migne, Fatr. Curs. Latr., XX., 
col. 174). The ending differs from our version. ''Non se, inquit, 
Jesus Dominus purpuratum et diademate renitentem venturum esse 
praedixit. Ego Christum, nisi in eo habitu formaque qua passus est, nisi 
stigmata prssferentem, venissenon credam." Severus says that Martin 
told him about this ! 

^Ifric tells the story in his life, of St. Martin. See j^lfric' s Lives 
of Saints, ed. Skeat, hom. XXXI. cap. XXV., II., p. 266. 

(6) St. Anthony and the Snares: 

St. Anthony was so meek that he vanquished the fiends. Once he saw 
the earth spread with snares and traps wherewith were baited men's 
souls. He asked God what thing was safe from these nets and was 
told ''mekenes allane." 

This anecdote comes from the Vitae Patrtim, lib. III. or Verba 
Seniorum, by Ruffinus (Migne, Fatr. Curs. Lat., LXXIIL, col. 785). 



NORTH-ENGLISH HOMILY COLLECTION 37 

The voice of God said to Anthony: ''Humilitas sola pertransit, 
Antoni, quam nullo modo valent superbi contingere." The in- 
cident is not given in the Vita S. Anthoni by St. Athanasius of 
Alexandra. 

It is told by Vincent of Beauvais, Spec. Hist., lib. XIV., cap. 14 ; 
by Paraldus, the Dominican, in his Summa Virtutum ac Vitiorum, lib. 
I. (ed. Bale, 1497, fol. 101(a)). ; and in the middle of the following 
century (XIV.) by Johannes Junior, Scala Celi, De Humilitate (ed. 
Ulm, 1483, fol. 92(b)). Jean de Vignay gives it in his Legende 
Doree (ed. Verard, 1493, fol. 34(a)), but it does not appear in the 
modern editions of his original, Voragine. 

There seems to be no way to decide whence our author took the 
legend. Indisputably he had access to the Vitae Patrum, and prob- 
ably he knew Vincent of Beauvais. 

(7) St. Machary: 

One day the fiend met Machary and said that he was unable to 
strike him with sin because, though he exceeded the hermit in pen- 
ance, fasting, and watching, the latter surpassed him in meekness. 
Machary lived in a hermitage near a great city, whence he had fled, 
and was served by another hermit. He was accustomed to go into the 
city to sell his handiwork. A citizen's daughter being with child by a 
clerk accused the hermit in order to shield her lover. Her friends beat 
Machary about the market-place, and only released him on the surety- 
ship of his friend. So he returned to his cell and worked hard at his 
craft in order to send the wench money. At length, when the time 
of her confinement came, she was not released from travail till she had 
confessed the truth. But Machary fled from the praise accorded him. 

This story — really two illustrations of St. Machary 's humility — comes 
from the Vitae Patrum. It is printed twice by Migne in its double 
form, once in lib. HI. or Verba Seniorm?i by Rufiinus, and again in 
lib. v., libellus XV. {^Migne Patrol. Cur. Lat., LXXXIII., col. 778 
and col. 958). Both these versions differ from that of Met. Ho7n. 
in making Macharius tell the story himself. They also explain the 
presence of the saint's attendant by saying that he was a layman of 
religious life ; and they difl"er from the Alet. Horn, version in the form 
of punishment which the saint suffered. John Herolt, the Dominican 
writer who lived in the first half of the XV. century, prints the 
version of Ruffinus word for word in his Protnptua7'iic?n Exemploriim, 
P, ex. 6. 



/< 



38 G. H. GEROULD 

I have found no English version except that of Caxton in his trans- 
lation, Vitas Patrum. This follows the Latin closely, though trans- 
lated out of French. (Caxton, Vitas Patrum, fol. 195.) 

The first part appears by itself in several compilations : Vincent of 
Beauvais (f 1264) gives it in his Speculum Historiale, lib. XIV., cap. 
18 ; Paraldus in his Simima Virtutu?n ac Vitiorum, lib. I., fol. 161(a); 
Herolt in the Prompt. Exemp. H, ex. 7 ; Jacques de Voragine in Le- 
genda Aurea, cap. XVIII. (ed. Graesse, p. 100); Odo de Ceritona in 
Parabolae, Dom. I. post Oct. Pasche (ed. Hervieux, Fabulistes Latins, 
tome IV., p. 289). In Caxton' s Vitas Patrum, fol. 93, it is again 
referred to under the life of St. Jerome. 

(8) The Archbishop and the Nun : 

A certain archbishop had jurisdiction over a nunnery situate five 
miles from his seat. Thither the nuns came, according to custom, to 
take the veil. On one such occasion, as he sang the mass, he cast his 
eye on a maiden and lusted for her. When the nuns were gone he 
could neither eat nor sleep, but sent letters to the abbess, summoning 
her to him on pretence of business. He told 'her that she must send 
him the nun who was there the day before. She was horrified at his 
request, but was under obligations to him for her position and fearful 
of his displeasure. So she acceded and persuaded the nun to give her 
body up for the good of the convent. (Here follows a long moraliz- 
ing interlude. ) The bishop soon repented, lamented at great length, 
did secret penance, and refused to see his people. At length a mob 
threatened to break down the palace doors if he did not appear. So 
he went out and spoke with them, and was compelled by his friends 
to eat and drink. ' Yet he was still uncleansed and would not perform 
his offices. Finally he promised to sing the mass on a great day, but 
when the day came he began to preach to the great congregation in- 
stead and told all his sins, saying that he would no longer be bishop. 
He threw off his robes and ran out from the church. Soon he met a 
woman carrying an infant. The child spoke to him through the Holy 
Ghost and bade him turn back, for his sins were forgiven. Yet he ran 
on, disbelieving the words of the child. Then he met an angel who 
commanded him to return and sing the mass. So he went back and 
became a holy man. 

(I have found no original for this story.) 

(9) The Three Kings : Biblical. 



NORTH -ENGLISH HOMILY COLLECTION 39 

(10) St. John and the Boy: 

When holy church was new St. John was busy ordaining priests and 
clerks and bishops. Once when he came to visit a church he found a 
fair boy, but untrained and wild, whom he took to the bishop to be 
cared for. The bishop baptized and trained the boy, who nevertheless 
fell among bad companions and became the chief of a band of robbers 
underwood. Then St. John came again and asked the bishop for his 
treasure. He was grieved at what he learned and after reproaching 
the bishop set out to seek the youth. The robbers started toward St. 
John as he drew near their retreat, but their chief fled in shame. 
John pursued him calling, and when he overtook him he promised him 
forgiveness for his sins. The man repented and became so good that 
'^ all men had grete ioye of hyme." 

This legend is found in the Liber quis dives salvetur, by Clement of 
Alexandria (Migne, Pat7\ Curs. GnEca, IX., col. 647), where it occurs 
in a life of St. John the Apostle. The events are said to have hap- 
pened after the return of St. John from Patmos. The name of the 
city is given as Ephesus which gives a clue to the rise of the legend. 
There was another John, bishop of Ephesus in the third century, who 
has often been confused, as in this tale, with the apostle of that name. 
Undoubtedly this is an anecdote from his life. Clement's mistake was 
perpetuated by several writers. Vincent of Beauvais gives the legend 
in the same form. Speculum Historiale, lib. X., cap. 42, referring it to 
Clemens Alexandrinus and to Eusebius. The reference to the latter I 
have been unable to verify, as the legend does not seem to exist in the 
printed works of any Eusebius. The legend occurs again in Speculum 
Morale (usually printed as the work of Vincent), lib. I., dist. 10, 
pars. 4, which refers it to Historia Ecclesiastica, lib. III., cap. 23. 
Presumably our author found the legend in the slightly later compila- 
tion Lege7ida Aurea, by Jacobus a Voragine, cap. IX. (ed. Graesse, 
p. 60). Here it is referred to Clemens, Ecclesiastica Historia, 
lib. IV. 

The legend bears some likeness to another which is told without 
names of persons or places. A certain abbot, wishing to convert a 
robber chief, went out to his hiding-place. When surrounded by the 
robbers he offered the chief his horse and all his possessions if they 
had need of them. After some parley he asked the chief why they 
continued to live by violence when he would feed them all without 
return if they would come to his monastery. The incredulous chief 



40 G. H. GEROULD 

consented to try the proposal and was sumptuously entertained ; but at 
the same time he saw the abbot and monks living abstemiously in the 
midst of plenty. So he was converted. See the so-called Jacques de 
Vitry collection, no. 62 (MS. Bibl. Nat. lat. 18134, fol. 200(a); the 
Alphabetmn Narr. by Etienne de Besangon (MS. Bibl. Nat. lat. 
15913, fol. 2(b) ; John Herolt, Serf?iones de Tempore, no. 51, p. 301 ; 
and Bromyard, Summa Praedicantiuui, E. VII. The last three all 
refer to Jacques de Vitry and are evidently based upon the pseudo- 
Jacques mentioned above. T. Wright in Latin Sto7'ies, no. 149, p. 
135, prints a version from MS. Arundel 506, fol. 48(a), which does 
not refer to Jacques, but which is essentially the same. 

In MS. Balliol 240, no. 6 of the collection, is still another story of 
a robber saved by a holy man. It concerns Odo, Abbot of Cluny, and 
a man who afterwards became cellarer. 

(11) The Birth of St. Thomas of Cawntirbiry : 

Before St. Thomas of Cawntirbiry was born his mother dreamed that 
all the water of the Thames was running through her bosom. She 
told her dream to a good man, and he explained it thus. He said your 
child shall make many men to sin and shall suffer sorrow. This water 
flowed spiritually when St. Thomas shed his blood for the love of Jesus. 

This dream of Thomas' mother is told in the" early life of the saint 
by Edward Grim (Robertson, Materials for the History of Tho7?ias 
Becket, II., p. 356). After the dream she consults two wise men. 
One tells her : ^' Nasciturus ex te reget populos multos. " '^ Et alter 
quidam, in nullo dissidens a prioris sententia, adjecit quod fluenta 
gratiarum esset accepturus, quibus natale solum instar fluminis irriga- 
ret." There is also another vision given by Grim. Thomas' mother 
dreamed that her womb was so enlarged that she could not enter the 
church. This latter is given again in the life by William Fitz-Stephen 
and by the writer whom Robertson calls '^Anonymous II." The 
dream about the Thames occurs again in the life '^ Anonymous I." 
(Robertson, IV., p. 3). 

Other early biographers do not have the story, as far as I have been 
able to find out. 

A variant of the legend appears in the Icelandic saga, Thomas Saga 
Erkibyskups (ed. Magnusson, I., p. 13). In this the Thames flowed 
* ' so close to the woman that it caught her sark, ' ' and the wise men 
said, '' that living water would flow from her womb " (trans. Magnus- 
son). The other vision is also told. 



NORTH-ENGLISH HOMILY COLLECTION 4I 

The source of the story in the Met. Horn, may have been one of 
the numerous biographies of St. Thomas which were written soon after 
his death. Or our author may have had the legend by word of 
mouth. Since it did not find its way into the great collection of ex- 
empla there is difficulty in judging whence our author took it. A 
similar story is told by William of Malmesbury concerning the mother 
of ^thelwold. While she was pregnant a golden eagle was seen to 
fly from her mouth. Gesta Pontificiwi (ed. Hamilton, p. i66). 
Somewhat similar is the vision of Evelac in the Grail saga, according 
to which he dreamed that nine streams flowed from the belly of Celi- 
doine, eight of them equal in size, the ninth larger than all the others 
put together. This is later interpreted to the king as designating 
Galahad. See, for example, Hucher, Le Saint Graal, II., 

P- 323- 

(12) Gyezi and Naaman : Biblical. 

(13) The Usurious Knight : 

Beyond the sea lived a bishop named Piers, and near him a man 
who had won wealth and knighthood through usury. Nor did these 
practices cease when he became knight. He passed his time in hunt- 
ing and in his business. Through the grace of Christ he became peni- 
tent and confessed to the bishop. For penance the bishop told him 
that he must give to a beggar whom he should meet whatever he 
asked. Well pleased by this light command, the knight went out, met 
the beggar, replied to his request for alms by asking what he wished, 
and granted him the quarter of corn which he demanded. But the 
poor man had no sack and so had to sell his alms to the knight for five 
shillings, since the latter would lend him no sack. The knight put the 
wheat in a chest, and when he looked at it on the third day he found 
the chest full of snakes and reptiles. In fear he fled to the bishop and 
asked what to do. The bishop commanded him to throw himself naked 
into the chest that he might save his soul. This he did, and the ver- 
min ate his body. But the bishop came in procession, and leaped 
scatheless among the reptiles, and took out the holy bones snow-white. 
These were honourably buried in a nunnery where they heal the 
sick. 

This is the variant of a tale found in two Latin compilations of the 
XIII. century, the one by Etienne de Bourbon (f 1261) and the other 
by Caesar von Heisterbach (a Cistercian who wrote early in that 
century). 



42 G. H. GEROULD 

In Etienne de Bourbon, Liber de Septem Donis Spiritus Sancti (p. 
368, Anecdotes histo7'iques. . . . du re cueil inedit d'' Etienne de Bour- 
bon, ed. Lecoy de la Marche) it appears in this form : A usurer, being 
sick, wished rather to give some grain to the poor than to restore his 
illgotten wealth. This corn he put into a chest. His servants soon 
after found it turned into serpents. The usurer, therefore, restored 
his unrighteous gains and commanded that his dead body should be 
thrown to the serpents. This was done. '^ Qui dam addunt quod 
evanuerunt serpentes, et remanserunt ossa alba et nuda cum 
lumine." 

In Caesar von Heisterbach, Dialogus Miraculorujn, dist. II., cap. 
XXXII. (ed. Strange, I., p. 106), the tale concerns a man buried in 
the church of St. Gereon at Cologne. A certain usurer was penitent, 
confessed, and was bidden to enclose his gains in a great chest. When 
he opened it he found it full of reptiles, and was told by his confessor 
that by this he could see how much God liked the alms of usurers. At 
the command of the priest he threw himself naked among the vipers. 
The priest closed the chest and returned the next day when he found 
the bones, which are buried at the door of St. Gereon' s and prevent 
all reptiles from entering there. This version is given and referred to 
Caesar in the Scala Celi of Johannes Junior (cir. 1350), De tisura, 
fol. 151(b) ; also in Jacobus Well, chap. XXXII. (ed. Brandeis, p. 
209). Both these versions follow Caesar closely. 

It is obvious that the version of the Met. Horn., though it exactly 
corresponds to neither of these, approaches more nearly the second 
than the first. Our tale is told with more detail and especially adds 
the effective incident of the sack, yet it seems probable that it owes its 
origin at least indirectly to Caesar von Heisterbach. That he was 
known in England, though by no means the most popular ecclesiasti- 
cal compiler of his time, is shown by numerous references in Jacob' s 
Well to which I have referred above. 

(14) The Devil as Physician : 

A hermit who dwelt in the desert once saw the devil going by 
along the road and bearing many painted boxes like a leech. The 
fiend was bound to an abbey which stood near, and so he told the 
hermit who asked his purpose. He said he would tempt the brothers 
with drinks from the boxes, with gluttony, envy, with lechery, or 
with some other. The hermit let the fiend go and bade him return 
that way. The devil had little power at the abbey, and on his 
return he said that only Theotist would do his will. So the hermit 



NORTH-ENGLISH HOMILY COLLECTION 43 

went to the abbey, to the great joy of the monks. He asked after 
Theotist, and when he met him he demanded whether he was tempted 
with fleshly lust. The young man said no. Then the hermit said 
that that was strange because even he, now an old man, was not free 
from it. So Theotist confessed that he was direfully tempted and 
was instructed by his elder. Soon after the hermit saw the fiend 
going to the abbey but full soon returning with lamentation that no 
longer had he power even over Theotist who was now stoutest against 
him. 

This is a legend from the Vitae Patrum where it is told three times. 
In lib. III., par. 6i (Migne, Pair. Curs. Lat., LXXIII., col. 769) ; 
in lib. V. (Pelagius), libellus 18, par. 9 (Migne, LXXIII., col. 981) ; 
and in lib. VII. (Paschasius), cap. I. (Migne, LXXIII., col. 1027). 
The devil while journeying to Macarius' hermits, meets that saint. 
All these versions omit the ruse by which in the Met. Horn. Macarius 
prevailed upon the young hermit to confess. The young man is named 
Theopemptus, Theoctistus, and Theopistus in the several versions. In 
all three versions, as indeed in all I have found except the Met. Ho?n., 
phials and not boxes form the devil's luggage. In no other, also, is 
the fiend compared to a physician. Caxton's Vitas Patriun attributes 
the legend to Jerome, but Gregory and Jerome were to all mediaeval 
writers convenient names to use when no better offered. 

The version of the Met. Horn, appears to come from the Speculum 
Morale (usually printed without due cause as part of the Speculum 
Magmwt of Vincent of Beauvais) ; see Spec. Mor., lib. III., dist. 
XIV., pars X. With the exception of the differences above named 
this is in all respects like the Met. Hom. The name of the young 
monk is Theotistus. 

Other examples are: Vincent of Beauvais, Spec. Hist., lib. XIV., 
cap. 18, where only the first part of the story is given; Jacobus a 
Voragine, Leg. Aur.y cap. XVIII. (ed. Graesse, p. loi), a brief form 
with all the conversation between Machary and Theotist omitted ; the 
early translation of the preceding by Jean de Vignay, ed. Verard, fol. 
33(a); Etienne de Besanc^on, Alph. Narr., MS. Bibl. Nat. lat. 
1 591 3, fol. 82(a), where the young monk's name is not mentioned, 
nor his conversation with Macarius; Herolt, Prompt. Excmp., T, ex. 
14, which is most like Vitae Pat?'u??i, lib. III., par. 61 ; an English 
version in Jacob's Well, chap. XVII. (ed. Brandeis, p. 115), which 
is referred to the Vitae Patnwi but is most like Alph. Narr. except 



44 G. H. GEROULD 

that the unnamed young hermit drank from six of the devil's cruets, 
**evil thoughts, sleeping, jangling, idleness, laziness, and lust"; 
Magnum Spec. Exenip. (Duaci, 1603), Daemon, no. 10, exemp. 
CLXXXV., which is very like the Spec. Morale, but is referred to a 
Liber de Praevidentia, no. 11, of which I know nothing. 

A variant of the legend is given by Jacques de Vitry (ed. Crane, 
no. LXXV. p. 34). In this St. Macharius saw a devil, completely 
covered with phials, who said he saw going to visit the hermits of the 
desert. On his return the saint saw that all the phials were empty 
and learned that one monk had drunk the whole, the others re- 
sisting. This is to be found in precisely the same form in the 
pseudo-Vitry collection of MS. Bibl. Nat. lat. 18134, fol. 201(b), 
as no. 65. 

A similar tale is related in the life of St. Godric, Hermit of Finchale 
(ed. Surtees Society, p. 248). A certain youth who served a man of 
God saw a huge man approach his master and try to make the saint 
drink of the bottles with which he was covered. The holy man finally 
told the servant to sprinkle the tempter with holy water, but on no ac- 
count to pursue him outside the church. The young man then chased 
the devil to the door, but he was so eager that he went outside and 
thus was burned by the liquor that the fiend threw at him. 

(15) The Hermit who Returned to the World : 

We find written of a hermit who lived long in the service of God 
that Satan came to him in the desert as a messenger from his mother 
and friends. The fiend said that they besought him to return to look 
after the property which his father had left at his death. By this lie 
the hermit was persuaded to go home. There he found his father 
alive and was ashamed that he had been so deceived. But the world's 
wealth soon made him forget his shame, and he stayed so long at home 
that he took a wife and died in the devil's service. 

(I have not found other references to this legend.) 

(16) The Monk Mawryne : 

A rich man who had become a monk of most holy life was disturbed 
because he had left his daughter in the world under the care of friends. 
His abbot saw that he was troubled and asked his reason. He told 
his superior that he had a son named Mawryne whom he would fain 
make religious. The abbot told him that he would receive the boy if 
he were good. So the monk went after his daughter, clad her like a 
boy, and instructed her to let no one know her sex. She was shaven 
monk and called Friar Mawryne. She dwelt in her father's cell and 



NORTH-ENGLISH HOMILY COLLECTION 45 

became very holy, so that at his death she lived there alone and was 
greatly esteemed. It happened that the monks were enlarging their 
abbey and sent Mawryne in charge of a cart to a distant quarry. 
There she lay a night at the house of a brewster. Now it happened 
that a swain had lain with the daughter of the brewster. When she 
was seen to be with child she told her friends that Mawryne had un- 
done her. They accused Mawryne to the abbot, and she for the love 
of Christ would not deny the crime. She was driven with bitter words 
from the abbey and sat outside the gate where she was fed with bread 
and water. Thither, when it was weaned, the brewster' s daughter 
brought her child which Mawryne cared for during two winters. 
When she had lived thus in penance for five years the monks took 
pity on her humility and begged the abbot that she be admitted 
again to the abbey. So she was fetched and made scullion and slave 
of the convent. Soon after she died, and when the monks went to 
wash the body before burying it in unhallowed ground they found that 
Mawryne was woman. The abbot bewailed and commanded that she 
should be buried in great honour. The brewster' s daughter went mad 
but was healed at the saint's tomb by the will of God. 

Horstmann (Herrig's Archiv, LVIL, p. 259 ff. ) has printed this 
narrative from MS. Vernon, where it appears as part of the expanded 
collection of these homilies. 

St. Marina or Maria (the names are used indiscriminately to de- 
scribe her) was one of the numerous holy women of the early church 
who lived lives of rigorous piety by passing themselves off as men. 
Pelagia (see no. 43) pursued the same course. Marina's festival is 
July 17th, or February 12th in the Greek Church. Under the former 
date in the Acta Sand., and in Migne, Pair. Curs. Lat., LXXIIL, col. 
691, is printed the account of the saint from Rosweyd's Viiae Patrum^ 
lib. I. This is probably the source of our version. Gering, Islendzk 
y£7>entyri, 1882-3, II., p. 127 ff. treats the history of the legend, dis- 
tinguishing two groups, both of which go back to an original Greek 
form: (A) version printed in Migne, Patr. Curs. Grceca, CXV., 347; 
and (B) that of the Acta Sanct. mentioned above. The former dif- 
fers from the latter in making the daughter follow her father to the 
monastery of her own will ; in making her exile from the abbey three 
years instead of five, etc. 

To type (A) belong the version in Vincent of Beauvais, Spec. Hist.^ 
XV., 94, and the Icelandic version printed by Gering, I., p. 149 ff. 



s& 



46 G. H. GEROULD 

To type (B) belong the majority of the versions preserved, as for 
example : 

Jacobus a Voragine, Legenda Aui'ea, cap. LXXXIV. (ed. Graesse, 

P- 353)- 

Jean de Vignay, fol. 104(b) (ed. 1493). 

Etienne de Besangon, Alph. Narr., MS. Bibl. Nat. lat. 15913, 
fol. 5(a). 

Herolt, Prompt. Exemp., P, ex. 7. 

Caxton, Vitas Fatru??i, fol. 71. 

Met. Horn. 

MS. Harl., 2253, printed by Boddeker, Altenglische Dichtungen 
des MS. Harl. 22^j, 1878, p. 253 ff.; by Horstmann, Sa7?i?nlung 
a Itenglisch er L egeiideii , 1878, p. 170 ff. 

The two versions last named are very similar in form ; and as Kol- 
bing, Engl. St., II., 509, has already pointed out they agree with each 
other in some points where they disagree with the version of Acta 
Sanct. Kolbing concludes that the version contained in the Vernon 
MS. was made from a Latin form nearly allied to that of Acta Sanct. 
but not identical with it. As will be seen by reference to the table in 
Parti., pp. 8 and 9, Boddeker's supposition (p. 255) that the story of 
Marina is not contained in the Camb. MSS. is altogether in- 
correct. 

A story attaching to St. Theodora is most similar to this of Maw- 
ryne. She was living as a monk under the name of Theodore and was 
actually solicited by the girl who afterward accused her. The sex of 
the saint was revealed to the abbot in a dream. 

Jacobus a Voragine, Legenda Aurea, cap. XCII. (ed. Graesse, p. 
397). P'or the general origin of the Marina-Pelagia-Theodore story 
see no. 43. 

(17) Saint Bernard and the Peasant : 

We find written that St. Bernard, on his way to a city on business 
from his abbey, once greeted a tillman and asked him what was his 
prayer. The man said that he knew only the Pater Noster. Then 
the saint asked, ''What jnnkes ])0u godeman all waies. When ])0u ]n 
pater noster sayes ? ' ' The man said he thought always of Christ. 
Then said Bernard, ' ' Full well es ]7e ]?t so maie do For so ne fares it 
nop. of me. ' ' The peasant said that was strange, for a monk should 
not let his thoughts stray more than a tillman. So the saint promised 
him his palfrey if he could say Pater Nosters all the day without an 
evil thought. The man was glad and soon began his prayer, but 



NORTH-ENGLISH HOMILY COLLECTION 47 

before he had said three words he wondered whether he would get 
both saddle and bridle with the palfrey. Again he tried, but again 
failed. And St. Bernard who knew his thoughts gave him nothing. 

This legend, which is perhaps related to the celebrated fabliau 
* ' Les Souhaits de Saint Martin ' ' with the numberless affiliated tales 
associated with it (cf. J. Bedier, Les Fabliaux, p. 177, for discussion 
of these related stories), is found with certain variations in several 
collections of exempla : Jacobus a Voragine, Legenda Aiirea, cap. 
CXX. (ed. Graesse, p. 534); Johannes Junior, Scala Cell, fol. 33(b). 
Both these versions mention St. Bernard. Herolt \x\ Prompt. Exemp., 
O, 22, gives a version where a priest takes the place of the saint. An- 
other variant is found in the pseudo-Vitry collection of MS. Bibl. Nat. 
lat. 18134, no. 12, fol. 182(a). Here one friend offers another his 
horse if he can say a Pater Noster without thinking of something else. 
He falls the victim to the thought of the saddle as in our version. 

Bernard appears in a similar story in the Gesta Romanoru77i, cap. 
170 (ed. Oesterley, p. 560), where he wagers his horse at dice against 
the soul of a ' ' lusor. ' ' He wins by throwing eighteen with three dice 
against his opponent's seventeen. 

In Romania, XIH., p. 30, J. Ulrich prints an old Italian legend of 
St. Bernard and a demoniac, and refers it to Jacobus a Voragine as 
above. But the story is altogether different. 

(18) Saint Eustace: 

A knight named Placidas lived in Rome. He was of good life but 
knew not Christianity. He had great power under Trajan and was a 
general of renown. He had a wife of noble birth and life, and they 
had two young sons. While hunting one day with his knights he saw 
a herd of deer in a wood and pursued a noble hart so fast and long 
that he outdistanced all his men. At length the hart leaped up a cliff, 
where he could not follow, and there stood. As Placidas gazed he saw 
a crucifix between the beast's horns, and he fell down in fear at the 
sight. At last he rose and looked again. The hart spoke to him and 
said that he was the Lord, the Creator of all things, who had been 
crucified. Many more things he told the knight and commanded him 
to become a Christian and to come thither again. So Placidas rode 
home with his followers and told his wife of the happening. About 
midnight they rose and went with their sons to the bishop who dwelt 
secretly at Rome. Placidas was then baptized as Eustace, his wife as 
Theophiste, and their sons as Theotist and Agapiton. The next day 



48 G. H. GEROULD 

Eustace sought the cliff again, and there was instructed by Christ that 
he should be tempted and should suffer at the hands of Satan like Job, 
but that he should be delivered. He returned home and was comforted 
by his wife. Soon after they began to suffer and lost all their servants 
and wealth. When for shame they could no longer live in Rome they 
went forth and lived as laborers in a neighboring country. The Em- 
peror and the people when they found that they were gone sorrowed 
at their loss. Later Eustace took ship at a port and crossed the sea. 
The shipmaster was pleased with the lady and would not let her go, 
but God kept her from stain. So grieving at the loss of his wife 
Eustace went on with his children. While bearing them across a 
river one at a time he lost them both, for they were borne away by a 
wolf and a lion, he being in midstream. But some laborers saved 
the children and cared for them as their own. Ignorant of all this, 
and sorely cast down, Eustace went to a town and served a man faith- 
fully for more than fifteen winters, while near by dwelt his sons and 
his wife, who supported herself as a seamstress. It happened that the 
Emperor was in sore need of Eustace as a general and sent into all 
countries to seek him. Two knights came where he was but did not 
recognize their old master. They inquired for Placidas, He said he 
knew no such man but brought them to his master's house. As he 
served them one of them noticed that he wept, and at last they saw a 
resemblance in him to Placidas. They proved their suspicion correct 
by looking at his ear which they knew had once been wounded. With 
tears of joy they told the husbandmen of Placidas, and so led him to- 
ward Rome. Eustace told all his adventures, and at the end of forty 
days they came to Rome. When they arrived they found that Trajan 
was dead and that Hadrian reigned in his stead. None the less Sir 
Eustace led the armies of the empire to victory. He came to a city 
where dwelt his wife ; and his sons, who were in the army unknown 
to him and to each other, lodged at her house. After three days they 
began to talk in her presence of their childhood, and so were revealed 
to her as well as to one another. She went to the general and told her 
tale, and as she told it recognized her husband. So after many explan- 
ations they were all united and had more wealth than before. But 
since they refused to worship the gods of Hadrian, the Emperor bade 
that they be given to a lion. The lion refused to harm them, and 
Hadrian in his rage commanded that they be shut up in a brazen ox, 
heated white-hot. God made the ox all cold and took their souls to 



NORTH -ENGLISH HOMILY COLLECTION 49 

heaven, so that when their bodies were taken out they were found un- 
singed. The Emperor sighed therefore, and many heathen were 
turned to Christ. 

This life of St. Eustace — the medieval Job — varies little from the 
customary accounts. Indeed, the differences in all the lives are trivial 
considering the widespread popularity of the legend. The cult of the 
saint is discussed in the Acta Sand., Oct., tom. VI., die 12. The 
most complete account of the various versions of the legend is to be 
found in Dos obras didacticas y dos leyendas sacadas de mantiscritos de 
la biblioteca del Escorial, ed. H. Knust, 1878, pp. 107 ff. Reviews 
of this work by H. Varnhagen, AngL, III., p. 399, and by R. Kohler, 
Zts.f. rom. Phil., III., p. 272 give additional material. 

Latin versions : 

(i) Acta Sand., Sept., tom. VL, die 20, p. 123, Acta Fabulosa ex 
MS. Medicaeo regis Franciae. This is the oldest version which we 
possess. 

(2) Vincent of Beauvais, Spec. Hist., lib. X., caps. 58-61 and cap. 
82. The martyrdom is here given separately. 

(3) Jacques de Voragine, Legenda Aurea, cap. CLXI. (ed. 
Graesse, p. 712). 

(4) Gesta Romanoruin (ed. Oesterley, p. 444). 

(5) Etienne de Besan^on, Alpha. Narr. (MS. Bibl. Nat. lat. 
15913, fol. 36(a), a shortened form of the Legenda Aurea. 

(6) Johannes Junior, Scala Cell, Passio Christi, fol. 130(b) gives 
the first part of the legend up to the baptism. 

(7) Nicephorus Callistus treats the legend in his Hist. Eccl., lib. 
III., cap. xxix. (Migne, Patr. Curs. Graeca, CXLV., col. 954). 

(8) Brief resume in Menologiiwi Graecorufn (see Knust, op. cit., 
p. 107). 

(9) In hexameters. Acta Sa?ict., loc. cit. 

(10) In hexameters, MS. Laud Misc. 410, ed. Varnhagen, Zts.filr 
deutsches Alterthum, XXV., i. 

(11) In hexameters by Peter of Rheims (see AngL, III., 400). 

(12) In distiches, MS. Arundel 23, ed. Varnhagen, Zts.filr deutsches 
Alterthum, XXIV., 241. 

(13) In distiches. Cod. Ver., XC, fol. 70(a), ed. Diimmler, Zts. 
fUr deutsches AltertJuun, XXIII., 273. 

French versions : 



50 G. H. GEROULD 

(i) Fragment of a version in alexandrines byBenoit, MS. Egerton 
1066 (see Meyer, Bulletin de la Soc. des Anc. Textes frangais^ IV., 
57 ; and Kniist, op. cit., p. 114). 

(2) In alexandrine couplets, MS. Bibl. Nat. fr. 1555 (see Knust, 
op. cit., 117), by Guillaume de Ferrieres (see Meyer, loc. cit.). 

(3) In alexandrine quatrains (see Meyer, loc. cit.). 

(4) In decasyllables, MS. Bibl. Nat. fr. 1707 (see Knust, op. cit. , 
p. 116). 

(5) In octosyllables, MSS. Bibl. Nat. fr. 19530 and Egerton 745 
(see Knust, op. cit., p. 116), by a certain Pierre (see Meyer, loc. cit.). 

(6) In irregular metre, MS. Bibl. Nat. fr. 24951. 

(7) In octosyllables, MS. F. 149, Bibl. Nat. at Madrid (see Meyer, 
loc. cit. ) . 

(8) In prose, Jean de Vignay's Legende Doree, fol. 207(b). 

For the tragedies on this theme see Nisard, Hist, des Livres popu- 
laires, 11. , 186; and Knust, op. cit., 117. 

German versions : 

(i) Rudolf von Ems, ed. ^oth., Deutsche Fredigten des XII. u. 
XIII. Jahrh., 1839 (see Knust, op. cit., 119). 

(2) Der Vaeter Buoch (a translation with additions of the Vitae 
Patrum), see Knust, loc. cit. 

(3) Hermann von Fritzler in legenden von Heilige?!, ed. Pfeiffer, 
Die d. Mystiker des XIV. Jahrh. (see Knust, loc. cit.). 

(4) A version printed 1455, perhaps by Zobel (see Knust, loc. 
cit. ) . 

Italian versions : 

( 1 ) Rappresentatione di Sancto Eustachio, a mystery several times 
printed during the i6th cent, (see Knust, op. cit., 117). 

(2) La Historia di Sancto Eustachio, verse, (see Knust, op. cit., 
118). 

(3) La Historia santo Eustachio, prose, (see Knust, loc. cit.). 

(4) Delia Vita S. Eustachio Martire, Giovanni Batt. Manzini, 
Venetia, 1663, (see Knust, loc, cit.). 

(5) Historia Eustachio -Mariana, A. Kircher, Romse, 1665, (see 
Knust, loc. cit.). 

(6) By Fra Domenico Cavalca, see Kohler, Zts. f. rojn. Phil., III., 

275- 

Spanish versions : 

( I ) Translation of Latin version into Spanish prose, ed. Knust, op. 

cit., pp. 123 ff., from MS. & 11. 8 of the Escurial. 



NORTH-ENGLISH HOMILY COLLECTION 5 1 

( 2 ) Las qiiatro Estrellas de Roma y el martirio mas sangriento de 
Sail Eustachio, a comedy (see Knust, op. cit., p. 112). 

Miscellaneous : 

Versions of the legend are found in the Scandinavian and Slavic 
tongues, also in Breton, sometimes as folk-songs. 

English versions : 

(i) ^Ifric in his Lives of Saints , no. 30, (ed. Skeat, p. 190) gives 
a clear, full account which closely follows the original Latin version. 

(2) Early South-English Legendary, ed. Horstmann, p. 393. For 
the MSS. see Horstmann, pp. xiii-xxiv. 

This version is precisely like that of the Met. Ho?n. as far as events 
are concerned, though it bears little resemblance in language. 

(3) Met. Hom. Found in all the MSS. save Harl. 2391 and Edin. 
See table in Part I. Also in expanded collections. 

(4) Version from MS. Digby 86, ed. Horstmann, Altengl. Leg., 
Neue Folge, p. 211. This gives no names except that of Eustace. 

(5) Barbour' s Legend Collection, ed. Horstmann, II., 12; Metcalfe, 
II., 69. This follows the Legenda Aurea. 

(6) John Partridge's version, ed. Horstmann, Altengl. Leg., Neue 
Folge, p. 472 ; also for Roxburgh Club, 1872. 

(7) In 1599 a drama by John Chettle entitled The Hystorie of the 
moste noble knight Plasidas was presented in London. Published for 
Roxburgh Club, 1873. 

The version of Met. LI0771. probably was taken from the early Latin 
form and presents the legend without much change. 

An interesting cycle of romance stories grew up round the Eustace 
legend. These romances have not yet been made the subject of an 
exhaustive investigation from the point of view of their general rela- 
tions to the parent legend (though the literature of the subject is con- 
siderable) ; nor can I do more here than to enumerate them. The 
following romances or stories all have more or less intimate connec- 
tions with the Placidas legend. 

(i) Guillaume d'Engleterre.^ 

(2) Der Graf von Savoy. ^ 

(3) Die gute Frau.^ 

(4) Wilhelm von Wenden.* 

^By Crestien de Troyes, ed. Foerster, 1899. 

2 Ed. J. Eschenburg, 1799. 

3 Ed. Sommer, Zts. f. d. Alterthum, 11. , 392. 

< By Ulrich von Eschenbach, ed, Toischer, 1876. 



52 G. H. GEROULD 

(5) The Octavian romances.^ 

(6) La Historia del Cavallero Cifar.^ 

( 7 ) Story in Early English Versions of the Gesta Romanorum, ed. 
Herrtage, p. 87. 

(8) Sir Ysumbras.^ 

In his review of Knust, Dos obras didacticas, in Zts. f. rom. Phil.y 
III., 272 ff., R. Kohler noticed the resemblance of the legend to the 
story in the Arabian Nights of the king who lost all, but to whom God 
restored everything, and to an Armenian variant of this story. The 
variant remains to be cited according to which the legend attaches to 
St. Hubert. See Simrock, Die geschichtliche7t Deutschen Sagen, pp. 
46, 47; two ballads, nos. 20 and 21, the former by G. Gorres, the 
latter a folksong. 

(19) The Uncharitable Hermit : 

A young hermit was grievously tempted with fleshly lust and con- 
fessed to a holy hermit who was old and had never known temptation 
of the body. The old hermit thus was uncharitable and told his 
brother that he would go to hell. In great despair the young man 
set out toward the town, meaning to forsake the holy life. On his 
way he met an old hermit named Apollo, who asked him of his 
trouble and comforted him by telling him that though old he himself 
suffered temptation of the flesh daily. After being instructed how to 
overcome the fiend, the young man returned to his cell to do penance. 
Apollo went to the hermitage where dwelt the old hermit and prayed 
that the temptation of the young man might come upon the old man 
for his lack of charity. Ere he ceased, he saw the fiend shooting 
through the window with bow and arrow. Grievously tempted the 
old man cast off his habit and set ofl" townward. Apollo followed him 
and upbraided him for his sin. The hermit fell on his knees, con- 
fessing his sin, and through their united prayers he was released from 
temptation. 

The original of this legend is the Vitae Fatrum, lib. V., libellus 5 
(Migne, Fair. Curs. Lat., LXXIIL, col. 874). It concerns the her- 
mit Apollonius, who plays the part of deus ex machina. An Ethiopian 
replaces the devil and shoots at the uncharitable hermit as in the Met. 

1 French version, Octavian, ed. Vollmoller, 1883 ; English versions, ed. Sarrazin, 
1885. 

2 Ed. Michelant, 1872. 

3 Ed. Schleich, 1901. 



NORTH-ENGLISH HOMILY COLLECTION 53 

Horn. In this form the story is found in Jacques de Vitry (ed. Crane, 
no. LXXXI., p. 2>^') ; the pseudo-Jacques de Vitry of MS. Bibl. Nat. 
lat. 18 1 34, fol. 231(a) ; £tienne de Besan<jon, Alph. Narr., MS. 
Bibl. Nat. lat. 15913, fol. 2(a) ; Johannes Junior, Scala Celi, De 
confessore, ed. 1483, fol. 41(a). Jacques de Vitry, fetienne de 
Besan^on, and Johannes refer to the Vitae Patrum as their 
source. 

A similar form, but verbally independent, is given by Johannes Cas- 
sianus, coll. II., De dtscretiofie, cap. XIII. (Migne, Fatr. Curs. Lat., 
XLIX. col. 544). Another example is found in the Magnum Spec. 
Exemp. (ed. 1603), Confessio II., p. 106, which is ascribed to Libri 
Doctrinae F. F., liber de fornicatione nu. I., but which is the same as 
the version of the Vif. Fat. as far as events go. In Caxton's Vitas 
Fatru7n, fol. 231, the legend is given in a treatise against fornication. 
A French version afterward turned into English was that of William of 
Wadington, which formed the basis for Robert of Brunne's tale. For 
both French and English s^^ Handlyng Synne (ed. Furnivall, p. 262). 
The story is ascribed to Gregory but has the form of the Vitae Fatrum. 
A '' blak man " shoots the arrows at the uncharitable hermit. 

(20) The Knight Beguiled by the Devil : 

A knight beyond the sea, who had been rich but who through lavish 
expenditure had fallen into poverty, was greatly grieved when the day 
came on which he had been accustomed to make a great feast in honor of 
Our Lady. In shame he fled to a wood and there was met by the devil 
in man's likeness, who promised him great wealth if he would do his 
Avill. The knight promised so to do. He was told to go and dig for gold 
where it lay in the earth and then to bring his wife to the wood. The 
knight, not recognizing the fiend, did as he was told, found the money, 
and again made feasts. On the day appointed he told his wife to come 
with him to speak to a friend, and so on their palfreys they passed 
into the wood. They rode by a chapel, and the lady dismounted to 
pray while her husband rode forward bidding her not to be long, under 
penalty of his anger. She prayed so long, however, that she fell 
asleep. As she lay there Our Lady came, leaped on the palfrey, and 
rode with the knight in the form of his wife. When they met the 
fiend he angrily cried out that the knight had brought God's Mother 
instead of his wife. At this the knight craved pardon of Our Lady, 
who at once disappeared, and he returned to find his wife asleep in 
the chapel. 



54 G. H. GEROULD 

This Mary legend is told by Jacobus a Voragine in its present form ; 
and presumably it reached our author from that collection, where it 
appears under Assiwiptio Virginis. See Legenda Atirea, cap. CXIX. 
(ed. Graesse, 513). The version which Wright printed, Latin Stories y 
p. 31, is from MS. Arundel 506, fol. 54(b) and MS. Harl. 3216, 
fol. 6(b). It is the version of Voragine again. Johannes Junior in 
the 14th century gives essentially the same tale {Scala Celi^ Demuliere, 
fol. 119(b)). 

Jean Mielot, Miracles de Nostre Dame, no. II. (ed. Warner, p. 5) 
gives a much closer paraphrase of Jacques de Voragine' s account than 
does our author. For example, he does not add the little touch of 
character which we get in the Met. Horn, where the knight bids his 
wife not to stay too long in the chapel about her prayers. A far more 
picturesque and lively account in French is that found as no. 3 in a 
collection of miracles of the Virgin contained in MS. Bibl. Nat. fran. 
410 (anciens fonds fran. 7018*), fol. 8(a). The events narrated, 
however, and the general order are the same. 

An English version, the only one I know of beside that in the pres- 
ent collection, is found in three of the MSS. which contain the South- 
English Legendary, viz. MS. Harl. 2277, fol. 61(b), MS. Cott. 
Cleopatra D. 9, fol. 148(a), and MS. Cott. Julius D. 9, fol. 302(b). 
This miracle is one of several in praise of the Virgin placed after the 
story of Teofle. It is not printed by Horstmann. No mention is 
made of the knight's extravagance as the cause of his misfortune. 
Otherwise the tale presents no unusual features, except that when the 
Virgin comes out from the chapel in the form of his wife the knight 
chides her for so long delaying him. 

Latin versions similar to that printed by Wright (see above) are- 
found in MS. Harl. 2316, fol. 8(a), and MS. Add. 11 284, fol. 53(b). 

Other stories of devil-dealing are common in the Middle Ages. 
The usual object for which the victims sell themselves is money or 
power, though in some the motive is love. The Theophilus story (no. 
39) is an example of the former kind, as is also the Old French /<i7<^- 
hauy '' Du vilain qui donna son ame au Deable " (Montaiglon-Ray- 
naud, II., p. 34). In the latter the man returns to the devil every 
ten years to get more wealth, but the fourth time he loses his life as 
well as his soul. A second story in the Legenda Aurea, cap. XXVI. 
(ed. Graesse, p. 122), is similar to ours in that a young man, who has 
sold himself to the devil for the sake of a maid and who has been res- 
cued by St. Basil receives back by miracle his written agreement. 



NORTH-ENGLISH HOMILY COLLECTION 55 

This legend is told by ^Ifric in his life of St. Basil (ed. Skeat, I., 73).^ 
A story in which Mary figures is told by Vincent of Beauvais, Spec. 
Hist., lib. VII., caps. 105, 106. Here a poor knight of Aquitaine 
who has wasted his property calls on the devil, is ready to deny Christ 
but will not give up Mary, goes into a church, and prays to the Virgin. 
She comforts him and arranges for him to marry the daughter of a rich 
old knight. Other versions of this story are found in MS. Bibl. Nat. 
lat. 18134, no. 39, of a collection of Miracles, and in Mielot, Miracles 
de Nostre Dame, no. 39 (ed. Warner, p. 37). Similar to this tale is 
one contained in MS. Balliol, 240 (no. 44), where the hero is not a 
knight but a clerk who was greatly beloved by his bishop. He refuses 
to give up the Virgin, but instead of being rewarded with a wife he 
dissolves a previous marriage and lives henceforth wholly in the service 
of Mary, '■ * malorum fugax. ' ' 

(21) Saint Bede and the Birds : 

In the life of St. Bede we find written that in his old age he was 
blind but none the less continued his preaching. Once as he went to 
preach his * ' knave ' ' grew^ weary on a moor and told his master that many 
people had come thither to hear him preach. Bede believed this lie 
and preached till his knave was rested and scorned him. But God 
showed a miracle, for when Bede had finished the hard stones called 
out and the birds flying past cried as men : 

** Blessed be l^ou l^t can so kenne, 
Wele has ])Ou preched here saule hele. " 

Jacobus a Voragine, Legenda Aiwea, cap. CLXXXI. (ed. Graesse, 
p. 833), gives this anecdote. Bede's servant stopped, however, in a 
valley full of stones rather than on the moor. The birds are not men- 
tioned. The stones and angels cried out when Bede had done : 
''Amen, venerabilis pater, . . . Bene, venerabilis pater, dixisti." 
It is also found in Alph. Narr., of Etienne de Besangon, MS. Bibl. 
Nat. lat. 15913, fol. 70(b). 

A similar tale of appreciation shown by birds to a holy man is related 
as a Welsh folk-tale. See Rhys, Celtic Folklore, p. 219. *' When St. 
Beuno lived at Celynnog, he used to go regularly to preach at Llanclwyn 
on the opposite side of the water, which he always crossed on foot. 
But one Sunday he accidentally dropped his book of sermons into the 
water, and when he had failed to recover it a gylfin-hir, or curlew, 
came by, picked it up, and placed it on a stone out of the reach of the 

^ The story comes from the ninth century life of St. Basil by Amphilochius. 



Ite^ 



56 G. H. GEROULD 

tide. The saint prayed for the protection and favour of the Creator 
for the gylfin-hir ; it was granted, and so nobody ever knows where 
that bird makes its nest. ' ' 

(22) Piers Toller : 

A rich merchant called Piers Toller dwelt far beyond the sea. He 
was a good man, but he did not love beggars and was so far from 
charity that he would give poor men nothing. One summer day the 
poor folk sat in the sun recounting the houses where they had received 
alms. They talked of Piers and promised mastery of them all to a 
beggar who said that he would get alms from Piers. The beggar went 
to his house, and as he stood at the door Piers came home followed by 
a servant with a basket of bread. In default of a stone he cast a loaf 
at the beggar who bore it off blithely to his fellows and received his 
reward. On the third day Piers fell sick, and in a trance saw his 
judgment. A pair of balances hung before him. In one scale the 
fiends heaped up his sins and the angels could find nothing to put in 
the other side except the little loaf which he had thrown at the beggar. 
Yet this bore up all his sins. After being advised by the angels he 
woke from his trance and became a man of great charity, beloved by 
all. Once he met a ship-broken mariner and gave him his cloak. 
The poor man was unwilling to wear so rich a garment and sold it at 
a booth. When Piers found this out he was sorrowful and thought 
that because of his unworthiness God's servants would not wear his 
clothes. He was comforted by Christ who appeared to him clad in the 
garment which he had given the mariner. Then he bade a clerk take 
ten pounds to buy merchandise and to sell him to a Christian in some 
distant land. Unwillingly the clerk did so, sold him for thirty pence 
which he gave to the poor, and Piers became the servant of a man in 
reduced circumstances named Goyle. Through his efforts Goyle be- 
came rich, but he himself did menial duties and was called Dob-Daffe. 
Christ appeared to him to give him comfort, and soon after he was 
recognized by some merchants of his country whom he served at the 
house of Goyle. They tried to take him for the sake of the Emperor 
who was sad at his loss. Piers, in order to escape from them, ad- 
dressed a deaf-and-dumb porter at the gate who by a miracle answered 
him and his pursuers. The man said that a fire came out of Piers' 
mouth and touched his tongue. But Piers was never seen again, 
though we may be sure that he was taken to bliss. 



NORTH-ENGLISH HOMILY COLLECTION 57 

The Story of Piers the Usurer, which was so popular in the Middle 
Ages that it has certain characteristics of the folk-tale, nevertheless 
seems to originate with the life of St. John the Almoner by Leontius of 
Naples. John of Alexandria, commonly known as Johannes Elee- 
mosynarius, lived at the end of the VI. century, and his biographer, 
Leontius, was a contemporary. The Greek text of the life has been 
published by Heinrich Gelzer (Freiburg and Leipzig, 1893). The 
story appears in chap. XXIL, p. 40, and is said to be one that John 
the Almoner was accustomed to tell. The general course of the story 
is the same as that of the Met. Horn. , but it has a different beginning, 
which I quote from the translation by Anastasius (Migne, Pair. Curs. 
Lat., LXXIIL, col. 356): ''Habebam, inquit, quemdam ministrum 
in apotheca mea in Cypro, fidelem valde, et virginem usque ad obitum 
suum. Hie ergo narrabat mihi quia [sic] in Africa existente me facta 
est res hujusmodi : Permanebam enim, ait, cum quodam toloneario, 
divite vehementer et immisericordi." So the story seems to have 
justification for its likeness to a fabliau in its origin. The name of 
Piers' master at Jerusalem, which appears as Goyle in the Met. Ho7n.j 
is IwtXo? in the Greek text ; and the original of Dob-Daffe appears less 
picturesquely as 7zapa-a{ajy, or in the translation Aniens. 

All the derivatives which I have found save that of the Met. Ho7ti. 
refer more or less indirectly to John the Almoner. The version of the 
Legenda Aurea, cap. XXVIL (ed. Graesse, p. 126), is briefer than 
that of the Met. Horn., but it follows the original almost as closely. 
It does not state what the beggar's wager was. In it, morever, Petrus 
was taken sick two days after he threw the loaf at the beggar. So this 
can hardly be the source whence our author took the story. The ver- 
sion of Leg. Aurea is found in the paraphrase by Jean de Vignay, 
Legende Doree, fol. 40(a), and in Caxton's Goldeti Legend. 

In the Speculum Morale^ lib. I., dist. 104, pars 3, is found a brief 
version with no mention of the beggars, etc. In lib. II., dist. 6, pars 
2, it is told again and with much detail except at the end. Another 
XIII. century version is the fragment contained in the Alpha. Narr. 
by Etienne de Besangon (MS. Bibl. Nat. lat. 15913, fol. 34(b) ), 
where the story is told up to the point where Petrus awakes. The 
incident of the mantle is told as a separate anecdote on the same leaf. 
In the XIV. century the story appears in Latin in the Sermones de 
tempore of John Herolt, no. 81, p. 463. Petrus is not named in the 
beginning of this version, but incidentally later on he is mentioned 
by name. 



58 G. H. GEROULD 

William of Wadington and Robert of Brunne give the story but with 
some differences. See Hand/yng Synne, ed. FumivaW, p. 175.^ Piers 
was an ** okerere." The beggars didn't talk of him till they saw him 
come out of his gate. The beggar met him on his return. ''The 
ship-broken mariner ' ' becomes 

" ... a man 

As nakede as he was bore 
)?at yn )>e se had alle lore." 

Piers saw this man sell the garment which he gave him. The incident 
of selling Piers is told in detail. The clerk sold him to an old ac- 
quaintance named " Zole." The nickname is not given. 

Another rather free version is that in Jacob' s Well, chap. XXIX. 
(ed. Brandeis, p. 192). In this the fact of the wager is merely stated. 
'' Perys bare rye-louys fro \e oven to \e pantrye." In his dream the 
loaf did not outweigh the sins. The latter part of the story is told 
with great brevity. 

The incident about the mantle bears a certain resemblance to the 
well-known legend about St. Martin which appears as no. 25. 

(23) The Hermit and the Thieves : 

A hermit in a desert was robbed by thieves, though he had few pos- 
sessions. When they were gone he remembered a sack which they 
had not found, and he ran after them with the sack. They were so 
moved by his meekness that they repented and were good men from 
that day. 

I have found this story nowhere but in Caxton's Vitas Fatrum, fol. 
300. There it occurs without essential differences from our version. 

(24) The Man in the Devil's Leash : 

A holy man stood in a churchyard praying and saw a fiend pass by 
with a man in leash. By God's grace the man broke away and went 
into the church. He made confession to the priest and came out 
again. The fiend who was awaiting his prey at the stile did not know 
him and was both astonished and angry when the holy man told him 
that his victim had passed by. 

The original of this tale is the Vitae Fatrum, lib. VII. (Migne, Fatr. 
Curs. Lat., LXXIIL, col. 1046). It is told of Paul the Simple and is 
more detailed than our story. While the man was within the church 
Paul prayed and wept. The man who was dark and stained by sin 



1 Printed by Morris, Spec, of Early English, 1867, p. 109. 



NORTH-ENGLISH HOMILY COLLECTION 59 

when he entered came out radiant, so that the devil did not know him. 
Paul first addressed the devil, then heard the narration of the man at 
some length. 

The derivatives of this are of three kinds : 

A. Those which follow the original very closely include : Spec. 
Morale, Ub. III., dist. XIX., pars III. (somewhat less detailed than 
that of V. F.); Herolt, Sermo?ies Quadrageswiales, IX. (like that oi 
Spec. Morale); Herolt, Prompt. Exetnp., M, exemp. 19 (almost word 
for word like that of V. F.) ', Robert of Brunne, Handlyng Synne and 
Wadington, Le Manuel des Pechiez (ed. Furnivall, p. 378), where 
Paul is mentioned only as a good hermit and the chain broke as the 
man entered the church, and on being questioned the man said he felt 
burdened with an old sin before he was shriven but afterward felt won- 
drous light ; and Met. Horn. 

B. That of John Herolt, Sermones de Tempore, CXXXIX. A mail 
had evil thoughts. So the devil came to him in the form of a travel- 
ler. As they were walking together the man began to be afraid and 
went into a church which they were passing. It was Lent. After con- 
fession he came out, but the devil did not recognize him and asked 
where his companion had gone. 

C. The form of Nicole de Bozon, Contes Moralises, no. 58 (ed. 
Smith and Meyer, p. 81), where the devil doesn't appear, the holy 
man merely noticing the change in appearance of a sinner ; and that 
of Herolt, SermoJies Quadragesimales, XV., where the devil saw men 
^'claros recedere de confessione. " 

(25) Saint Martin's Cloak: 

St. Martin met a naked cripple one day, and since he had nothing 
to give but his own clothes and was riding in knight's apparel of tunic 
and mantle only, he cut his cloak in two with his sword and gave one 
half to the beggar. People laughed him to scorn, but that night 
Christ appeared to him clad in the half which he had given the poor 
man. xA.nd Christ said to an angel : 

"... todaie Martine cledde me 
Wi]> )>is clothe als l^ou male se. " 

This well-known anecdote of St. Martin of Tours is found in the 
Vita by Sulpicius Severus, lib. L, par. 3 (Migne, Fatr. Curs. Lat. 
XX., col. 162). It happened while Martin was serving as a soldier 
in his youth at Amiens. Christ made a long address tQ a multitude of 
angels when he appeared that night. 



6o G. H. GEROULD 

The legend has been a very popular subject in art. Perhaps its best 
known appearance in literature is Li Dis du Mantel Saint Martin, by 
Jean de Conde (ed. Scheler, Dits et Contes, etc., III., p. 313), 
Two versions in Old English follow closely their original, Severus : 
Blickling Homilies (ed. Morris, p. 213); and MMxic, Lives of Sai?its. 
no. XXXI. (ed. Skeat, II., p. 222). 

(26) The Devil in Church : 

A holy man at preaching saw the fiend glide about with a pitcher 
and a cup. And whoever drank of the cup went to sleep. 

This story is a sort of abstract of a monkish example from the Vitce 
Pat7'um, often referred to St. Machary. The version of John Brom- 
yard (late XIV. cent.) is most like this. It runs as follows : *' Un^<? 
fert//;- Q(iiod cwn quid2i7?i videret populum indevotu;;^ cui pr^fdicavit 
quasi pigros et somnole^ztos ad rogatuw suum deus ostendit ei causam 
indevotio;zis. Videbat siqia'de7?i quewdam nigrum circuire et poner^ 
digitos suos super aures et oculos populi ne audire/zt : sed dormire:^t 
et requisitz/j" de nomint dixit se dyabolu;;^ esse : nomenque suum esse 
obtura;2S aures et oculos : requisitz/ij- e\:iam si socios \iabexet. ^espon- 
dit se tres h^^^^re socios ibide;« secu;;^ : quorum unus dicebatz^r indu- 
ra;« cor ne ^<?;2tera;^tur. hX\us obtura/zs os ne co;/fitea;ztur. "Yexeius 
obtura;zs bursaw : ne satisfacia;zt vel restitua;zt. Et recte sicut nititur 
obturare aures ne audia;zt lege;;z vel utilia. " (Bromyard, Summa 
Praedicantium, A, XXVI., 10.) 

The story is printed by M\gne, Pair. Curs. L.at., LXXXIIL, col. 
765. The preacher is here the Abbot Macharius, and he saw more 
than one fiend, '' pueros Aethiopes nigros. " A similar version occurs 
in the Alpliabetum Narratiofium of Etienne de Besangon (^1294), 
MS. Bibl. Nat. lat. 159 13, fol. 65(a). This is referred to Vitae Pat- 
rum. A short version is also given, fol. 12(b), which refers to 
Jacques de Vitry. This attribution, however, seems to be false. 

An English version of the story is found in Jacob's Well (ed. 
Brandeis), chap. XXXVII. , which follows but does not refer to the 
Vitae Patrutn. Curiously, the devils are described as ^' feendys smale 
as chylderyn, blewe as men of Inde. ' ' 

(27) Saint Edmund and the Devil : 

We find written in his life that St. Edmund was a holy and good 
man, but that God suffered the foul fiend to tempt him. Once while 
he was in bed and was saying his private prayers, the devil fell upon 
him and held Tiim so that he could move neither hand nor tongue. 
But the saint thought of Christ's passion and so made the fiend disappear. 



NORTH -ENGLISH HOMILY COLLECTION 6 1 

The original of this legend is in the life of St. Edmund the Con- 
fessor, by Bertrand of Pontigny, which was printed by Martene in the 
third volume of Thesaurus Aiiecdotoruiti. Edmund was Archbishop of 
Canterbury from 1233 till his death in 1240. Bertrand' s life is said 
to have been written in 1247. This legend is found (ed. Martene), 
p. 1 791. After a long night of study the saint went to bed a little 
before dawn, when the devil fell upon him and held both hands so 
that he could not cross himself. But he prayed in spirit and so escaped. 

A short Latin version is given by Bromyard, Su??ima Praedica?itium^ 
P, II, 26, and referred to the Vita. In the Early South- English 
Legendary^ ed. Horstmann, p. 439, under a life of the saint, the 
legend is told differently. While at Oxford he fell asleep over a book 
one day and so ceased to think of the passion as was his continual 
wont. The rest of the story is the same. 

(28) Theobald and the Leper : 

The earl Theobald lived beyond the sea where he founded near 
Blois the abbey of Clairvaux, a rich house full of wise monks. This 
earl dispossessed a knight of his lands and so was cursed of God, 
Once as he rode out of town he found a leper by the roadside and 
took such pity on him that he promised him food and clothing as long 
as he should live. The leper lived long in the house which the earl 
provided and was fed by Theobald's alms. At length he died, and 
soon after him the earl. After their death a monk of Clairvaux saw 
them in a dream and after this fashion. A multitude of souls drew to 
judgment. On a high seat beside Christ was the leper, now radiant 
and beautiful, and he talked with Christ as with a dear companion be- 
cause he had suffered on earth without complaint. Before them two 
black dogs dragged the earl who was challenged as a felon because he 
had disinherited that knight, and he was doomed to hell. But the 
leper told Christ how Theobald had cared for him and besought his 
release. Christ was moved by the tale and commanded to lead the 
earl to purgatory. So he was saved by the leper's prayer. 

This story is connected with another story of Theobald and a leper 
first told in the collection of exempla ascribed to Jacques de Vitry 
which are contained in MS. Bibl. Nat. lat. 181 34. It occurs as no. 
70 of the collection, fol. 203(a). The story is this : '• Theobaldus, 
comes Campanie ' ' was accustomed to visit a leper who lived by him- 
self in a little house. Once as the knight passed by he went in to see 
his friend and found him healed and radiant. The former leper told 



62 G. H. GEROULD 

him that he would find mercy in heaven on account of his goodness. 
The knight went out, heard from his followers that the leper had been 
dead many months, and returning found nothing in the house but a 
sweet odor. In the Speculum Mo7'ale, lib. III., dist. XXV., pars x. , 
and in Besangon's^/^/^. Narr., MS. Bibl. Nat. lat. 15913, fol. 50(a), 
is the same story except that the name is omitted. The man simply 
called " Comes Campanise devotus. " 

Thomas Cantipratanus (f 1260-80), Bonimi Universale de Apibus 
(ed. 1627), p. 254, gives two stories concerning '' Theobaldus, Comes 
Carnotensium ac Elesensium." (i) On the authority of Comitissa 
Carnotensium ac Blesensium. The knight one wintry day met a 
beggar to whom he gave his cloak. But the beggar vanished just be- 
fore he was to take the mantle. (2) The story of the leper as in the 
Jacques de Vitry collection, except that the leper is said to have lived 
on the road between Chartres and Blois and that the knight did not 
return to the house. 

A variant, briefly told, is found in Jacob^ s Well, chap. XXXIX. 
(ed. Brandeis, p. 247). " Theobaldus an erle " used to wash a 
leper's feet. After the latter' s death he washed ''pe feet of crist 
clothid lyche ]^e lepre. ' ' When he had finished he smelled a sweet 
odor, went outside the house, and learning the truth praised God. 

The connection between this story and ours is, of course, somewhat 
vague. Both, however, concern a Theobald, a knight of Blois, who 
was blessed for his kindness to a leper. It may be that our author, 
who was not without imagination, constructed the legend on the basis 
of that told by Cantipratanus. Or again our story may be a variant of 
that one which had reached him by oral tradition or, less probably, by 
some legendary.- In any case, the version of Cantipratanus has the ap- 
pearance of being the original legend in form, though not so old as 
that of Jacques de Vitry. 

(29) The Monk who Prayed to See the Joys of Heaven, 

A holy monk had great yearning to see in life some token of the 
least joy that is in heaven. When he was old and was made free of 
convent work, he sat one morning in the cloisters after prime when the 
brothers had gone forth to work. And he saw a bird beside him 
which he tried to catch. When it flew away he followed it to the 
gate and into a wood that was there. At last it perched upon a bough 
and began to sing. The song was so sweet that the monk thought he 
would not go back till the bird had ceased. When the song was fin- 
ished, thinking that it was time for '^ undrone " to ring in the abbey, 



NORTH-ENGLISH HOMILY COLLECTION 6^ 

he went home to meet the brothers in the church. He found the 
convent walls moss-grown ; and he found no gate where he had come 
out, but a new gate elsewhere and a porter whom he had never seen. 
The porter asked him who he was. He replied that he was a monk 
who had just gone out to the wood. The porter said : ''I knawe you 
no^t. ' ' The monk thought this strange and asked the name of the 
abbey, and the porter told him. The monk found that new houses 
had been built and wished to go to the church. So the porter clad 
him in a cowl and led him to the church. Then the prior called him 
to the parlour and asked his name. He told his story, and he said he 
saw no monk nor frair that he had known. The prior asked him who 
was abbot went he went out. He told the name. They searched in 
books and found that the abbot whom he named had died three hun- 
dred years before. Also they found written in the chronicle how a 
monk had gone out and had never been seen again. So they knew 
that this was he. Again he told his tale, was houselled, and gave up 
the ghost. 

This legend which has been widely narrated in the course of many 
centuries appears to come originally from the annals of the Abbey of 
Afflinghem, near Malines, in the time of the Abbot Fulgentius, who 
flourished toward the close of the eleventh century. Liebrecht in 
John Dunlop' s Geschichte der P7'osadictungen (ed. 185 1, p. 543) re- 
prints from Prudent van Duyse's Vadei'landsche Poezy (vol. I., p. 202), 
the Latin original, which is stated to come from a MS. of Afflinghem. 
It begins: ''Eodem tempore (circa finem XI. saeculi) ut fertur, 
accidisset Fulgentio (primo Abbati Hafflighemi) mirabihs historia : 
admonitus enim a fratribus illis adesse peregrinum sed venerabilem 
monachum, qui se illius monasterii fratrem affirmabat, introduci fecit 
ilium. ' ' The story proceeds with the narrative of the old monk who 
said that the morning before, after matins, he had remained in the 
choir meditating on the mystery of the words : " Mille anni ante oculos 
tuos tamquam dies hesterna quae praeterit. ' ' A little bird appeared 
to him. Charmed with its song he followed it outside the monastery 
and into the forest where he had remained till then. Returning 
home he found everything changed. And when Fulgentius asked 
about his abbot and feudal lords it was found that all had been dead 
three hundred years. So the monk was houselled and died. 

The version of the legend which is nearest this in age is that of 
Maurice de Sully (71196) in a sermon, for Dominica tertia post 



64 G. H. GEROULD 

pascha, ed. Chambery, 1484. (M. Paul Meyer has also printed part 
of the story by Maurice, from several MSS., in Romania, V., p. 473.) 
This version varies from the preceding in the following points : it tells 
the story picturesquely from the general point of view, not from that 
of an annalist; it does not mention the monk's old age; he was in 
the cloisters, not the chapel, when the bird came to him ; the bird 
was an angel in disguise ; the monk returned to the abbey about mid- 
day ; the monk's death is not mentioned. 

Like the version of Sully, but shorter, is that of Eude de Cheriton, 
in a sermon for Doin. IV. post Pasche (quoted by P. Meyer, Contes 
Moralises de Nicole de Bozon, p. 267). It must be independent, how- 
ever, for the monk is here represented as old. Moreover, Eude de 
Cheriton was but little later in date than Maurice de Sully. 

Most like the version quoted by Liebrecht is one found in the Mag- 
num Speculum Exemplorum (Douai, 1603), dist. IX., ex. 55, p. 614. 
It is headed, vaguely enough, ''Legitur in libro exemplorum," but is 
certainly a derivative, though perhaps in the second degree, of that story. 

On the other hand, the version of John Herolt in Sermo?tes de Tem- 
pore, sermo LXXXIV., is again a derivative of Sully. In this the 
monk is stated to have been absent for three hundred and forty years. 
In a;n account of Herolt, Prof. Crane gives a translation of this (^Medi- 
eval Sermon-Books, p. 74). The remaining Latin version which I 
have found, that of John Bromyard, Summa Praedicantium, G, I., 15, 
gives the story in barest outline. 

The version of Nicole de Bozon, Contes Moralises, ed. Smith and 
Meyer, no. 90, p. 112, is the same as that of the Met. Hom. but in 
much less detail. The two probably come from some collection of 
stories in Latin' which circulated in England during the 14th cen- 
tury. This seems more probable than that Bozon changed the account 
by Fulgentius, and that our author saw Bozon' s work, though that is 
possible (see no. 31). 

The distinctively German version of the story is that printed by von 
der Hagen, Gesa7nmtabenteuer, no. XC. (vol. III., p. 613). In 
this form the monk is named Felix and belonged to the gray monks. 
He was absent from the abbey fully one hundred years. This metrical 
and distinctly poetical version, which differs in many details from all 
the other examples, was the source of H. W. Longfellow's story of the 
Monk Felix in his Golden Legend (chap. II.). The version of 
PauW s Schimpf und Ernst, ed. (Esterley, no. 562, conforms rather to 
the ordinary type, such as that of Spec. Exemp. 



NORTH -ENGLISH HOMILY COLLECTION 65 

Professor Rhys {Celtic Folklore, p. 155 ff. ) regards the tale as 
simply an ecclesiastical variant of the common story of a sojourner in 
fairy land. I copy his remark, though it seems at least possible, con- 
sidering the wide popularity of the story on the Continent, that he 
may be wrong in his treatment of the folk-tale as connected with the 
monkish story. "This latter kind of story leads easily up to another 
development, namely, to substituting for the bird's warble the song 
and felicity of heaven, and for the simple shepherd a pious monk. In 
this form it is located at a place called Llwyn y Nef, or Heaven's 
Grove, near Celynnog Fawr, in Carnarvonshire. It is given by 
Glasynys in Cyinru Fu, pp. 183-4, where it was copied from the 
Brython, III., iii, in which he had previously published it. Several 
versions of it in rhyme came down from the eighteenth century, and 
Silvan Evans has brought together twenty-six stanzas in point in St. 
David'' s College Magazine for 1881, pp. 191-200." 

(30) The Mother who Prayed Christ in Behalf of her Sons : Biblical. 

(31) Carpus : 

A Christian priest named Carpus was so zealous for Jesus that he was 
angry with those who spoke against Christ and stood stiffly in the fight 
with His enemies. In those days the church was new and few believed. 
It happened then that an evil man made a Christian go astray. And 
Carpus was so angry that he prayed that both should have some mis- 
hap. Christ heard the prayer and sent sickness upon the two. Then 
in sleep Carpus saw the two lying on a crag at the mouth of hell, and 
he was well pleased. He prayed: ''A Jesus, late ])aim fall." Jesus 
said to him that he had died for them and counselled Carpus to char- 
ity. So he woke and with changed purpose went to the two and 
brought them to amendment, so that they died as Christians. 

This story of Carpus comes from a letter written by Dionysius 
Areopagitus, to Demophilus, printed as epist. 8, Acta Sanct., Mai, 
torn. VI., die 26, p. 356. The erring man in this form of the legend 
(and, indeed, in all the examples of it save that in Met. Horn.), was 
a convert of Carpus'. Dionysius, the reputed author, is not to be con- 
fused with Dionysius, Bishop of Alexandria. 

The story is found in Le Ma?iuel des Fechiez, by William of Wad- 
ington, and in Handly7ig Syjine, by Robert of Brunne (ed. Furnivall, 
p. 164). The translation differs from its French original in making 
Carpus pray for the damnation of the man who was led astray only. 
It refers the legend to '' Seynt Dynys of France," who was identified 



66 G. H. GEROULD 

with Dionysius, the Areopagite, as early as the IX. century. Johannes 
Scotus, in the course of that century, in the preface to his translation 
ot the works of Dionysius the Areopagite has this notice: " Hunc 
eundem quoque non prefati viri, sed alii moderni temporis asserunt, 
quantum vita ejus a fidelibus viris tradita testatur, temporibus Papae 
dementis, successoris videlicet Petri apostoli, Romam venisse, et ab eo 
praedicandi Evangelii gratia in partes Galliarum directum fuisse, et 
Parisii martyrii gloria coronatum fuisse cum beatissimis suis consortibus. 
Rustico scilicet atque Eleutherio. ' ' ^ (Migne, jPaf. Curs. Lat. , CXXII. , 
col. 1032). 

Perhaps the foundation of our version is that of Nicole de Bozon, 
Contes Moralises, no. 79, p. 98. This is, however, pure conjecture, 
for there is no certain evidence that our author knew Bozon' s works. 

(32) The Melancholy King and his Brother: 

I find written of a king that he would never laugh. His brother 
once asked him why he was so sorrowful and he replied that he would 
answer on the next day. There was a custom in the land that when a 
man was to be executed trumpeters should blow before his door. So 
in the morning the king had horns blown be'fore his brother's door. 
The brother wept, for he did not know why he should be doomed. 
The king came to him and asked him why he was so sad. He said 
that he could not be happy since he had heard the trumpets of death, 
Then the king replied that he too could not be happy, because he knew 
that death would overtake him. 

This story belongs to a group, or rather a widely distributed family, 
which have united in a remarkable number of combinations an anec- 
dote from Barlaam and Josaphai and the tale which we know as The 
Sword of Damocles. The former, as given by Johannes Damascenus, is 
as follows : A king accompanied by his escort meets two beggars. 
He kneels to them because they are holy. The nobles murmur, and 
the king's brother protests. That evening horns are blown before the 
brother's gate, which is the sign that he is condemned to death. The 
brother passes the night in fear and in the morning is haled before the 
king. The latter asks him why he fears and then tells him that if he 
fears so much the horns sent by his brother he ought not to wonder if 
others fear death all the time. He then has two caskets brought, one 
fair outside and rotten within, the other plain but filled with riches. 
Of these he bids his nobles choose. The story of Damocles is too well 
known to need narration. 



1 For this reference I am indebted to Mr. W. H. Stevenson. 



NORTH-ENGLISH HOMILY COLLECTION 67 

On the basis of these two original stories certain modifications crept 
into the narratives. They were told either separately or in combina- 
tion. Sometimes the beggars were not mentioned, but a certain mel- 
ancholy king disciplined his brother. Again, the idea of the sus- 
pended sword was enlarged, and the king's speech to his brother was 
strengthened by having him apply four swords (or, since the number 
varies, simply swords) to his brother's body. Again, the story of the 
caskets was detached from the rest and became the parent of the 
' ' Casket Scene ' ' in The Merchant of Venice. 

It would be tedious to analyze each story separately. It is both 
simpler and clearer to make a schedule which shall show the relation 
of each to the general group. The following are the references to 
the stories which I have been able to examine : 

1 . Johannes Damascenus, Barlaam and Josaphat, trans, into Latin 

by Billius (Migne, Pati\ Curs. Lat., LXXIII., col. 462). 

2. Vincent of Beauvais, Spec. Hist., lib. XV., cap. 10 (see also 

Mag7ium Spec. Exe7Jip. (Douai, 1603), p. 253). 

3. Jacobus a Voragine, Legenda Aurea, cap. CLXXX. (Barlaam and 

Josaphat) (ed. Graesse, p; 814). 

4. Jean de Vignay, Legende Doree, fol. 233(b). 

5. De Conde, Li Dis Dou Roi et Des Hiermittes (ed. Scheler, vol. 

II., p. 63). 

6. Johannes Junior, Scala Celi, De judicio extremo, fol. 95(b). 

7. JacquesdeVi try (ascribed), MS. Bibl. Nat. lat. 18134, fol. 196(a). 

8. Etienne de Besangon, Alpha Narr., MS. Bibl. Nat. lat. 15913, 

fol. 47(a). 

9. MS. Brit. Mus. Add. 11 284, fol. 27(b). 

10. Spec. Morale, lib. II., dist. V., pars II. 

11. Johannes Junior, Scala Celi, De judicio extremo, fol. 95(b) (not 

the same as 6). 

12. Gesta Rovianorum (ed. Oesterley, p. 498). 

13. John Bromyard, Sum77ia Praedica7itiu7n, H, I., 22. 

14. John Herolt, Se7'77iones de Tei7ipore, no. 53, p. 317. 

15. Jacob' s Well, chap. XXXIV. (ed. Brandeis, p. 220). 

16. Paraldus, Su77i77ia Virt. ac Vit., lib. I., fol. 143 (b), and lib. 

II., fol. 18(a). 

17. Met. Ho77i. 

18. Jacques deVitry (ascribed), MS. Brit. Mus. Add. 26770, fol. 75(^)' 

19. Jacques de Vitry (ed. Crane, exem. XLIL, p. 151). 

20. Eude de Cheriton, Fabiilae (ed. Hervieux, Fabiilistes Lati7is, 

IV., p. 294). 



68 G. H. GEROULD 

2 1. Wright, Latin Stories, no. CIIL, p. 92. 

22. Bozon, Contes Moralises (ed. Smith and Meyer, p. 59). 

23. Cicero, Tusculum, lib. V., cap. XXI. 

24. Boethius, Co7is. Phil., III., Pr. V. 

25. Spec. Morale, lib. II., dist. IV., pars I. 

26. Holkot, Opus sup. Sap. Salomoftis, lectio LXX. 

27. Jacques de Vitry (ed. Crane, ex. VIII.). 

28. " " '' ( " " ex. XLVIL). 

29. Etienne de Besan^on, Alph. Narr., MS. Bibl. Nat. lat. 15913, 

fol. 46(b). 
Now, taking these stories as a whole, we find that they contain six 
essential points which are distributed in various ways among the dif- 
ferent members. These points are : (a) The incident of the beggars ; 
(b) a melancholy king reproached (usually but not always by his 
brother) ; (c) horns blown outside the gates of the brother's palace as 
a signal of death ; (d) swords placed against the sides of the man 
whom the king is going to instruct ; (e) a sword suspended for same 
purpose ; (f ) the incident of the caskets. 

(Nos. represent stories in preceding list). 



(a) Beggars. 


(b) Melancholy 
King. 


(c) Horns 
blown. 


(d) Swords 
applied. 


(e) 
sus 


Swords 
pended. 


(f) 


Ca 


I 




I 










I 


2 




2 










2 


3 




3 










3 


4 




4 


• 








4 


5 
6 




5 
6 










5 
6 


7 
8 




8 










7 


9 




9 












10 


II 

12 

13 

14 


10 
12 


10 

13 
14 




II 

12 

13 
14 








15 
16 


16 


15 




IS 








17 
18 


17 


18 












19 


19 


19 












20 


20 


20 












21 


21 


21 












22 


22 


22 




23 
24 

25 
26 

27 




28 
29. 



NORTH-ENGLISH HOMILY COLLECTION 69 

It will be seen that the story of the Met. Horn, has but one close 
counterpart, that of Guilielmus Paraldus in the Siunma Virtutum ac 
Vitioriun. As Paraldus died in 1275 and his collection was well 
known, this is the probable source of our story. It is, however, closely 
connected with (19), (20), (21), and (22), since the incident of 
the swords related in those might easily drop off. (In connection 
with Paraldus, it should be noted that Cr2iiiQ, Jacques de Vitry, p. 151, 
stigmatizes the references of Oesterley in Gesia Rom., p. 736, to Par- 
aldus and Herolt- as incorrect. Oesterley is, of course, in the right. 
It is impossible to imagine what editions Prof. Crane consulted. ) 

(33) The Obedient Servant: 

A hermit in the desert thus proved the obedience of his servant. 
He bade him put a dry bough in the earth and water it till it brought 
forth flowers and fruit. The good disciple watered it every day for 
three years, bringing water from a distance. At last God made the tree 
bear apples such that none were fairer in the world. The hermit took 
some of the apples to an abbey which was near and bade the monks 
eat them that they might know the power of obedience. 

This moral tale appears in two collections of Latin exempla, one of 
the XIII. and one of XIV. cent. In the Alphabetuin Narrationum of 
Etienne de Besangon (MS. Bibl. Nat. lat. 15913, fol. 63(a)) the 
fact is particularized that the servant brought water from a distance of 
two miles, and also that the dry stick flowered on the third year. 
Bromyard, in his Summa Praedicantium, O, I. 5, gives the simple 
anecdote as in the Met. H0771. It also appears in Caxton's Vitas 
Patrum, fol. 321. 

(34) Taysis: 

There was a woman of ill -fame named Taysis who slew many souls 
by her fairness. A hermit named Pannonye who lived near came and 
gave her twelve pence that he might sin with her. She led him to a 
fair chamber, but he told her that it was not secret enough. Then 
she led him by the hand into another, where she said none but God 
could see them, from whom nothing was hid. Pannonye asked her if 
she believed that God saw everything. She said she did. Then the 
hermit asked her if she was not afraid to sin as she did, since she knew 
that it would bring her to hell. She fell to her knees and cried for 
mercy. Her penance is too long for me to tell here, but briefly she 
gave her soul to God. 



yo G. H. GEROULD 

The original of the Thaisis legend is in the Vitae Patnmi (Migne, 
Pair. Curs. Lat., LXXIII., col. 66i), which narrates the conversion 
of the harlot Thaisis of Egypt by the hermit Paphnutius. Thaisis be- 
came a revered saint and her conversion is only one incident of the 
life as related in the Vitae Patrum. In this account the hermit paid 
her one solidus, and they entered but one room. After conversion she 
burned her possessions to the value of forty pounds. The same is 
given in the Acta Sanct., Oct., tom. IV., die 8, p. 224. 

Jacques de Vitry (ed. Crane, no. CCLVIL, p. 108) gives a ver- 
sion which differs from that of the Met. Hot?i., in making Thaisis lead 
the hermit to a third room. Vincent of Beauvais, Spec. Hist., lib. 
XIV., cap. 77, refers the story to Jerome (quite without justification 
as far as I can find out) ; and Thaisis is said to have come to her 
position through the influence of her mother. In Spec. Morale, lib. 
I., dist. XXVII. Paphnutius is led through several chambers and 
Thaisis burns property to the value " 400 librarum auri." Jacobus a 
Voragine, Legenda Aurea, cap. CLII. (ed. Graesse, p. 677), refers 
the story to Vitae Patrum, but as in Spec. Morale the saint is led 
through several rooms. Jean de Vignay, in' Legende Doree, fol. 
197(b), does not change the story of his original. It is also given by 
Etienne de Besangon, Alph. Narr., MS. Bibl. Nat. lat. 159 13, fol. 
2(a), who refers it to the Vitae Pat., and to the time of Emperor 
Valentian by the anonymous compiler of a so-called Jacques de Vitry 
collection in MS. Brit. Mus. Add. 26770, fol. 77(b), as no. 25 ; and 
twice by John Herolt, Sermones Quad., sermo 33, and Prompt. 
Exemp., M, ex. 28. 

Of the English versions, that of the so-called Barbour' s Legend Col- 
lection (ed. Horstmann, II., p. 79 ; Metcalfe, II., p. 215), follows 
closely the Legenda Attrea. More like the example from the Met. 
LL0771., is that oi Jacob'' s Well, chap. III. (ed. Brandeis, p. 22) which 
is ascribed to the Vitae Patrum. It resembles our version in making 
the hermit pay twelve pence instead of the penny of the original, but 
it does not speak of the bloodshed which Thaisis caused. Probably 
both it and our version were taken from some Vitae Patrum, instead of 
from Voragine. Caxton in his Vitas Patrum follows the Latin arrange- 
ment closely. 

(35) The Hermit and the Angel : 

In the wilderness a hermit found a dead man's body and wished for 
someone to help him bury it. God sent him an angel in human form. 
The hermit held his nose because of the stink of the corpse, and he 



NORTH-ENGLISH HOMILY COLLECTION 



71 



thought it odd that the angel did not notice the odor but handled the 
body as a woman does her child. When they had done, there came 
riding by a fair young man with a hawk in his hand and singing like 
a man at ease. Then the angel held his nose and complained of the 
smell. The hermit marvelled and said he smelled nothing now though 
he had been oppressed by the stink of the corpse. The angel an- 
swered that the youth had so defiled himself with lechery that he who 
was the angel of God could not endure the smell, but that the dead 
man had been holy and so had no " ghostly " smell. Then the angel 
bade the hermit goodday and disappeared. 

This legend appears in three different versions, distinguished by 
these characteristics : in A. a hermit who is walking in the desert sees 
that he is accompanied by two (sometimes one) angels ; in B. an 
angel calls upon a hermit to help him bury a pilgrim slain by thieves ; 
in C. the hermit finds the body and calls upon God for help, when the 
angel appears. 



Fi'^ae Patrum, lib. VI. (Migne, Pair. Curs. 

Lat.y LXXIIL, col. 1014). 
Speculum Morale, lib. III., dist. XIX., 

pars III. 
Bromyard, Summa Praedicantium, M, XIII., 

15- 
Johannes Junior, Scala Cell, De peccato, 

fol. 132(b). 



A. 



I. Two angels 



2. One angel 



" Etienne de Besan^on, Alpha Narr., MS. 
Bib. Nat. lat. 15913, fol. 9(b). 
Jacob's Well, chap. XI. (ed. Brandeis, 

P- 74). 



' Jacques de Vitry, Exempla, ed. Crane, p. 48. 
Eude de Cheriton, Sermones super Evangeliis Dominicalihus, 
for Dom. V., post Nat. (Hervieux, Fabulistes Lathis, IV., p. 

275)- 
B. \ Wright, Latin Stories, no. CXLVL, p. 132 (from MS. Harl. 

463, fol. 7(b)). 
MS. Brit. Mus. Add. 26770, fol. 78(a), no. 32 in a so-called 

Jacques de Vitry coll. 
Magnum Spec. Exemp. (Douai, 1603), dist. ix., ex. 18, p. 672. 



72 G. H. GEROULD 



C. <^ 



MS. Bib. Nat. lat. 18134, fol. 204(b) (no. 75 of a so-called 

Jacques de Vitry coll.). 
Trait e de Devotion, ed. Cornu, Romania, XL, p. 387 (XIV. 

century Portuguese). 
Met. Horn. 



It should be explained, however, that the version of the Vitae Patrum 
varies from all the others in leaving out the fair youth who passed by. 
The angels informed the hermit that they held their noses on account 
of him rather than on account of the corpse. The question of the im- 
mediate source of our version is not easy to resolve. It is true that 
the reversal in taking the initiative from angel to hermit would easily 
come to pass. Yet there are three widely separated versions where 
this took place. Must one conclude that these three had a common 
origin, or that the change took place independently ? At all events, 
it is safe to say that our legend comes, though perhaps not directly, 
from the example of the pseudo -Jacques de Vitry. 

(36) The Story of Creation : Biblical. 

(37) The Monk who was Harsh in Judging \ 

Two monks were living in a cell, and one of them saw a young man 
eat early on Friday. He judged the young man to be evil because he 
did so. Now this monk was holy and good. His fellow had spiritual 
sight to see and know the state of his heart, and when he came home 
he saw that he had lost his grace. He asked him what he had done 
to make God wrath. And the monk answered that he could think of 
no great sin. His fellow asked him if he had spoken with any man. 
He said that on the day before he had reproved a man because he ate 
early, thinking that on Friday he might remain fasting till noon, but 
that perhaps he had not done well, because he did not feel the man's 
hunger. So the two prayed that God forgive him, and after a fort- 
night of prayer he regained the grace which he had lost. 

I have found this version only in Caxton's Vitas Fatrum, fol. 263, 
where it appears in a disquisition on judging one's neighbors. It is, 
however, similar to another story told by Robert of Brunne, Handlymg 
Synne (ed. Furnivall, p. 314) which he took from Etienne de Besan- 
9on, Alph. Narr. (MS. Bib. Nat. lat. 15913, no. i). A parish 
priest of discretion had two evil parishioners. He asked God whether 
he ought to forbid them the sacrament. God replied that the sin 
would rest on the evil-doers but granted the priest the power of seeing 



NORTH-ENGLISH HOMILY COLLECTION 73 

who received the blessed bread worthily. So when the priest went to 
mass he saw some faces radiant, some black, some red, etc. (William 
of Wadington does not give this. ) 

(38) The Hermit and Saint Oswald : 

Stories tell us that of old in England there were seven kings. One 
of them lived at Bamborough in Northumberland, whose name was 
Oswald and who is now a saint. In his land a hermit called Goodman 
lived beside a river. When he had lived thus for thirty years the her- 
mit thought that no one was his peer in holiness. One day he sat on 
the river bank and watched two fishes in the stream. The larger was 
chasing the smaller and wished to eat it. The smaller one besought 
the greater to spare it for the sake of the holy hermit who was sitting 
on the bank. The greater refused, but when the other asked that it 
be spared for the love of King Oswald the request was granted. The 
hermit thought- it wonderful that a king could be holier than he, and 
so he set out toward Bamborough. Soon he met the King who leaped 
from his horse and asked his blessing. The hermit told what he had 
heard from the fishes and asked about his life. The King disparaged 
his holiness, saying that he lived in jollity and wealth with his knights 
and that he was sinful. The hermit said that was impossible and 
asked that he might know something of his life in order to take ex- 
ample of it. So Oswald gave the hermit a ring and bade him take it 
to the Queen who would treat him as she was wont her husband. The 
hermit was graciously received by the Queen, clad in fine garments, 
and seated at her side before a sumptuous feast. But he was not 
allowed to eat the rich food brought to him, for it was given to the 
poor ; and he turned away fasting from the little loaf of barley bread 
which was set before him. After the feast he was put to bed in the 
Queen's chamber. She kept him awake by kissing and embracing 
him till his passions rose. Then she called for help, and he was 
thrown into a vat of cold water and held there till all his teeth chat- 
tered. Again he was laid by the Queen and again she cried for help. 
This time he was dipped in " flome Jordane." Three times that night 
he was so served and the third time rolled in haircloth. In the morn- 
ing the Queen called him and asked if he wished to be used longer as 
was the King. He said, 'Mange ynoghe have I bene kinge." She 
told him that probably he lived more at ease than did the King, for 
they had lived long in virginity by these means. She promised the 
hermit, moreover, clothing and meat as long as they should live. 
Thankfully he went his way. 



74 G. H. GEROULD 

This legend furnishes a curious example of * 'grafting." An anec- 
dote from the Vit(E Patrum became, on the basis of one word, a fab- 
liau with very different names but essential similarity of events. This 
story in turn was transferred to the sainted King Oswald of Northum- 
berland. The progress from one form to another I have not been 
able to work out in detail, because of scanty materials, but there 
can be little doubt of the general truth of the statement as made 
above. 

There are three anecdotes in the Vitce Patruin which represent holy 
men enquiring for their counterparts in holiness. The first concerns 
St. Macharius (Migne, Pat. Curs. Lat., LXXIII., col. 778) who, 
wishing to know his peer in heaven, is told that two women far excel 
him in goodness. He visits them and finds that the secret of their 
virtue is that they have lived in perfect obedience to their husbands 
and have not been angry once in fifteen years. This story is told by 
William of Wadington and Robert of Brunne (ed. Furnivall, p. 62), 
who increase the period of good-temper from fifteen to twenty years. 
The second anecdote (Migne, LXXIII., col. 1006) is that of two her- 
mits who visit Eucharistius and his wife, Maria. The third anecdote 
is the ancestor of the Oswald legend (Migne, LXXIII., col. 1171). 
It concerns the hermit Paphnutius, who learns from heaven that a cer- 
tain protoco77ies (= admiral, cf. Du Cange) is superior to himself in 
goodness. He visits the man and finds him living in prosperity but 
severely. 

From this last anecdote to the old French fabliau, ' ' Du Prevost 
d'Aquilee ou d'un Hermite que la Dame Fist Baigner en Aigue 
Froide" (Meon, Nouveau Recueil, IL, p. 187) is a far cry. Yet the 
essential fact remains the same. The story runs thus : A hermit who 
had lived long in solitude learned from heaven that he was equalled in 
goodness by the Provost of Aquileia. He set out to find the officer, and 
after a toilsome journey met him riding out of the city with a gay com- 
pany to hang a robber. On claiming hospitality he was given a ring 
for the lady as in our story. He reflected that he had wasted his time 
in long penance if he were no better than this knight. His adven- 
tures with the dame are told much as in the Met. Horn. He pro- 
tested, however, at being compelled to occupy the lady's bed, and 
the dame by cajolery and her own strength, without calling for help, 
plunged him four times into a marble basin at the foot of the bed. A 
similar version is that of Jean Mielot, Miracles de Nostre-Dame, no. 
71 (ed. Warner, p. 76). 



NORTH-ENGLISH HOMILY COLLECTION 75 

How the fabliau was transferred to North English hagiology is not 
at all clear. It does not appear in the recognized biographies of St. 
Oswald. The French fabliau must have been well enough known in 
England, but it is impossible to trace the intermediate steps by which 
the story was transferred to Oswald and by which the minor miracle of 
the speaking fishes was added. The version printed by Meon must be 
regarded as the form whence our legend came, because the hermit of 
Mielot had lived only ten years in solitude instead of thirty. 

The only reference to the story as applied to Oswald which I know 
is a short narrative by John Herolt, who "wrote about the middle of the 
XIV. century. He gives the hermit the name of Simeon. Prompt. 
Exe?Jip., A, ex. 7 : '' Item legitur de sancto Oswaldo rege, qui in vir- 
ginitate vixit cum uxore sua. Symeon ermita in eremo viginti sep- 
tem annis vixerat, & petivit a Domino cum quo remunerari deberet, 
responsum accepit, quod cum Oswaldo rege, & doluit, & venit ad 
regem, qui indutus fuit regalibus vestibus, sed ab intra fuit flagellatus, 
& cilicium ad cutem habuit." 

(39) Theophil : 

In the city of Cizile lived a good bishop who had a clerk named 
Theophil. This man was chaste and well -beloved by all good men. 
The bishop died, and the people chose Theophil for his successor. 
But Theophil was made falsely humble by the fiend, and notwithstand- 
ing all their pleading and the command of the archbishop before whom 
they brought him he would not consent to take the bishopric. So the 
archbishop made another bishop, who at first kept Theophil in his office 
but soon was influenced by malicious reports inspired by the devil to 
put him out of his administration. For a while Theophil lived none 
the less in goodness and did alms ; but he yielded at length to sorrow 
and brooded on his lost power. He began to devise how he could re- 
gain his mastery by witchcraft and went by night to a Jew who then 
lived in the city and who sent many souls to hell. The Jew let him 
in when he knocked, heard his tale, and promised him help if he 
would come at the same time on the following day. The next night 
the Jew led Theophil to a hill where he saw many people in rich 
attire gathered round a king. The Jew told the devil that he had 
brought the bishop's clerk who wished for help. The fiend promised 
Theophil that he would give him greater wealth than before if only he 
would renounce Christ and Mary. This Theophil in great joy prom- 
ised to do and wrote an agreement to that effect which he sealed with 
his own ring. That same night the bishop had a dream by which he 



76 G. H. GEROULD 

knew that he had done Theophil wrong, so in the morning he restored 
him to his office according to the devil's promise. Theophil was now 
in greater honor and power than ever and thanked the Jew for his 
help, promising to remain the devil's man. So he lived long, but at 
last was moved by God to repentance and bewailed his folly. At 
length, almost in despair, he thought of Mary and prayed before her 
altar, adjuring her to show her might by delivering him. Fourteen 
days he remained before her altar in tears, and at the end of that 
time as he slept she appeared to him, and after his humble confession 
and argument that she would never have been God's Mother but for sin, 
she promised to intercede for him. After that he remained for three 
days in prayer, until she again appeared and said that Christ had 
granted him forgiveness. He asked then another boon, that he might 
receive again the charter which he had written. As he lay asleep on 
the third night she laid the writing on his breast. When he woke 
he went with great joy to the church where the bishop and people had 
gathered for Sunday service. After mass he met the bishop as he was 
turning from the altar to preach and told him all his case. , The bis- 
hop read the charter to the people and bade them take example from 
Theophil' s sin and repentance. He commanded that the agreement 
should be burned, and said a mass joyfully. When he was houselled 
Theophil went home, resigned his office, gave his goods in alms and 
lived in the service of Mary till his dying day. 

The legend of Theophilus is one of the most popular of the Middle 
Ages. He was vicedoi7iinus of the bishop of Cilicia in the VI. cen- 
tury. This name was by the later writers confounded with Sicily, 
whence the Cizile of our version. The source ^ of the legend is the 
life of Theophilus written in Greek by Eutychius who represents him- 
self as a member of the saint's household. Two MSS. of the Greek 
are extant, cod. Coislin, no. 283, and cod. Vindob., both printed by 
Jubinal, Rutebeuf, H., pp. 332—357. Two translations were made 
from the Greek, one by (i) Paulus Diaconus (see Acta Sanct., Feb. 
tom. I., die 4, p. 483 ff. ), the other by (2) Gentianus Hervetus (see 
Surius, De probatis Sanctoriun his tor its, I., p. 823 ff. ). According 

1 Henri Strohmayer, Ro7n., XXIII., p. 601 ff. takes the ground that the Theophi- 
lus legend arose as a variant of the Proterius legend which first appeared in the ninth 
cent, life of St. Basil of Coesarea by Amphilochius, and which was also the prototype 
of the Cyprian and Julian legend. This view assumes too much without proof, since 
the class of stories in which devil-dealing played a part was exceedingly large. The 
Proterius legend is, indeed, more like no. 20 (q. v.). 



NORTH -ENGLISH HOMILY COLLECTION 77 

to the commentator in Acta SaJict. Simon Metaphrastes somewhat 
later than the time of Pauhis revised the Greek of Eutychiiis, and it 
was from this recension that Gentianus made his translation. For a 
general discussion of the Latin versions as well as of the critical litera- 
ture, see Kolbing, Ueber die englischen fassungen der Theophilussage, 
Beitrdge zur vergleich. Geschichte der rom. Poesie unci Pros a des Mit- 
telalters. 

(3) In the XI. century Fulbertus, Bishop of Chartres, told the 
story in a Sei^?no de naticra B. M. V., Sermones ad Popuhun, no. IV. 
(Migne, Pair. Curs. Lat., CXLI., col. 323). He refers to the 
legend as to something well known, and vaguely cites ''scriptura 
qusedam ' ' as his authority. He in turn became an authority for others, 
and is cited by Jacques de Voragine and the anonymous author of a 
Libellum de Beata Virgine. 

Other Latin versions are the following, most of which are descen- 
dants of (i). Those which I have not myself been able to examine 
are marked with the asterisk. 

(4) Marbodes, a metrical form of the XI. century, when the author 
was bishop of Rennes. Acta Sanct., Feb. tom., I., die 4. 

(5) Hroswitha of Gandersheim, ed. by Dasent, Theophilus in Ice- 
landic, Low German, and other tongues, 1845, P- ^^ ^- (see Kol- 
bing, Ueber die engl. Fassungen, p. 3 ; Ludorff, Forresf s Theophilus - 
legende, Anglia, VII., 61). 

* (6) Canisius (see Sommer, P>e Theophili cum Diabolo Feeder e, 
1844, p. 11). 

^ (7) Del Rio (see Sommer, De Theophili cu7n Diabolo Feeder e, 
1844, p. 11). 

(8) Sigibertus Gemblacensis, Chronica, Migne, Patr. Curs. Lat., 
CLX., col. 102 (see Sommer, p. 13; Kolbing, p. 3). 

(9) Vincentius Bellovacensis, Spec. Hist., lib. XXL, cap. 69 
and 70. 

*(io) YiQrc\i\\sY\nctn\2^.2e.,Miracula MaricB Vijginis,^ltd\o\. 1579, 
(Kolbing, p. 3; Ludorff, p. 61). 

* (11) Florentius Radewin, ed. with an introduction by W. Meyer, 
Sitzungberichten der philos.philol. AbtheiluJig der k. bairischen Akad. 
der Wissenschaften, 1873 (^^e Ludorff, p. 61). 

(12) MS. Bib. Nat. lat. 2333 A, fol. 115, ed. Weber in Grober's 
Zts.f. rom. Phil., I., p. 523 ff. (Ludorff, p. 61). 

(13) Jacobus a Voragine, Legenda Aurea, cap. CXXXI. (ed. 
Graesse, p. 593) ; cap. CLXXXIX. (ed. Graesse, p. 871). 



78 G. H. GEROULD 

(14) Libellmn de Beata Virgine, no CXXX., MS. Bibl. Nat. lat. 
18134, fol. 82(b). 

(15) MS. Bib. Nat. lat. 5267, fol. 19(b). 

(16) " " '' " 5268, fol. 5(a), no. VI. 

(17) - " " - 5562, fol. 15(b). 

(18) - '^ '^ '^ 12593, fol. 149 (b). 

(19) " '' " '' 14463, fol. 3(b), no. VIII. 

(20) " " " '' 17491, fol. 141(b). 

(21) '' Balliol 240, no. II. 

(22) MS. Brit. Mus. Cott. Cleop., C. 10, fol. 104(a), no. II. 

(23) Johannes Junior, Scala Cell, De ambitione, fol. 6(b). 

(24) Etienne de Besan^on, Alph. Narr., MS. Bibl. Nat, lat. 15913, 
fol. 53(a). 

(25) Herolt, De Miracidis BeatcB Virginis, ex. 43. 

The last two, of which Herolt is a derivative of Etienne, make no 
mention of the Jew but have proceedings with the devil extend over 
three nights. 

In old French a well-known version is that of Gautier de Coincy, 
Miracles de la Sainte Vierge, p. 30. This is the longest version which 
I know, but gives the events much as in Met. Horn. A somewhat 
shorter metrical version (2032 lines instead of 2090) contained in MS. 
Bibl. Nat. fran. 375, is simply a manuscript variant of this. In Rute- 
beuf (ed. Jubinal, II., p. 79 ; Kraessner, p. 206), is Le Miracle de 
Thiophile in quasi-dramatic form. The Jew is here called Salatius. 
Jubinal also prints, p. 327 ff., a short Frier e de Theophile ; and a 
longer Li Priere Theophilus appeared in Grober's Zeitschrift, L, 247, 
edited by A. Scheler. In MS. Egerton 612, which contains the col- 
lection by the poet self-styled Adgar, is a version which has been 
edited by Weber in Grober's Zts., I., p. 531 ff. The story, told in 
French prose, is contained in Miracles de la Vierge, no. 28, MS. Bib. 
Nat. fran., 410, fol. 20(b). This is, however, of the XV. century. 
Frangois Villon also makes reference to the legend in a Ballade Que 
Villo7i Feit al a Requeste de sa Mere pour Frier JVostre-F)ame (ed. 
Jannet, p. 55). 

For the versions in German, Dutch and Icelandic, see Kolbing, 
Ludorff, and also Gering, Islendzk Aiventyri. 

In English three different versions ^ of the legend are extant : 



1 Also a short abstract by ^Ifric, Sej-mones Catholiciy De assumptione, ed. Thorpe, 
I., 448. 



NORTH-ENGLISH HOMILY COLLECTION 79 

(i ) That of the South-EngUsh Legendary, printed by Horstmann, 
Early South- English Legendary, 1887, p. 288, from MS. Laud io8. 
For a discussion of the various MSS. in which this legend is preserved 
see further, Horstmann, Altenglische Legendeft, neue Folge, p. xliv ff. 

(2) That of the North English Homily Collection, where it appears 
in all the MSS. which are complete. See tables in Part L 

(3) That of William Forrest who wrote in the XVL century. 
Found in MS. Harl. 1703, and edited by Ludorff, William Forresf s 
Theophiluslegende , A?igl., VII., p. 60 ff. 

Kolbing in his study, Die engl. Fassunge7i, above cited, leaves the 
ultimate sources of the English versions undecided. He finds, how- 
ever, that the northern form (of which he unfortunately used the MSS. 
of the expanded and therefore more corrupt collections) belongs to a 
group composed of the Dutch version ^ and two Icelandic versions,^ 
together with the legends in English (p. 38). He conjectures a long 
Latin version from which the versions in vernacular may have proceeded. 
It remains to be noticed that Kolbing has printed the legend from 
MSS. Harl. 4196 and Vernon in Engl. St., I., 16-57, Die jUngere 
engl. Fassu7ig der Theophilussage. 

(40) The Adulterous Priest : 

A holy parish priest had a dear friend who lived next door to him. 
The friend and his good wife died leaving a little daughter destitute. 
Her kin forsook the child, so the priest took her home and nourished 
her till she grew up and ruled his house. At length the fiend tempted 
him with lust (so great is the folly for priest or clerk to have a 
woman near) and made him sin with the maiden. He repented soon 
and thought to slay himself. He put the woman away, but would not 
for shame make confession to a priest. So he began terrible penance to 
cleanse his soul, and thus lived for a twelvemonth. At the end of that 
time he thought that God had forgiven his sin and so went to the altar 
to sing mass. But the host vanished from his sight. Another year he 
fasted and did penance without shrift, and at the end he tried once 
more to celebrate mass. Again God's flesh and blood vanished. 
Then he knew that he must confess before he could be forgiven. 
When he was shriven to a priest he celebrated mass and found three 
wafers instead of one before him. So he ate the three and thanked 
God for the miracle. 

1 Theophiltas, gedicht der XIV* eeuw, uitgegeven door Ph. B[lonimaert], 1836. 
^ Ed. Dasent, above cited, 1-28 ; and linger, Marui Saga, 402-421, 1080-1090. 
See Gering, XL, note to 137. 



/ 

/ 



8o G. H. GEROULD 

A Story in Robert of Brunne's Handlyng Sy?ine, and William of 
Wadington's Manuel des Pechiez (ed. Furnivall, p. 300) bears some 
resemblance to this. St. Gregory tells of a priest who seduced his 
god-daughter. When she was nearly grown up he asked her parents 
to let her stay with him one Easter-tide. He got drunk that night 
and lay with her. Though he knew he had sinned he preferred to go 
to church and incur God's displeasure rather than remain at home and 
be suspected by men. For six days all went well, and the priest 
thought God had forgotten, 

"Or thojt }>at he hadde hyt for Jy^^ 

And hym nydede nat )?er of be schryue." 

But on the seventh day he died, and soon after fire burst from his 
grave, utterly devouring the body. 

I cannot find the reference in Gregory's works. 

(41) The Thrifty Gardener : 

There was once a poor but generous gardener who gave all he could 
spare to the poor. Satan put it in his thought to save against his old 
age, so that he left his charity and gathered a^boot full of pennies. It 
happened that his foot became sore and began to rot. He sent after 
wise leeches and spent his pennies fast, but he got no help. When all 
the money was gone and his foot was worse than ever he called a wise 
leech who told him that the foot must be cut off or he would die. 
The leech promised to come on the next day and cut off the limb. 
That night the gardener lay on his bed and, bewailing his folly in 
leaving charity, prayed God for help. When he had prayed he saw 
an angel standing by, who said : 

"Where es now Y\ penyse, whare 
J?t ]30u so bisi was to spare ? ' ' 

The gardener acknowledged his fault and was healed by a touch of 
the angel. The next morning he went early to work. When the 
leech came he saw him in the field and praised Our Lord. 

This story is from the Vitce. Fatrum, lib. V., or Verba Seniorum, by 
an unknown Greek author (Migne, Fatr. Curs. Lat., LXXIIL, col. 
892). Most of the other versions refer to this, though several of them 
tell the story very briefly. I have found the following examples : 

Speculum Morale, lib. III., dist. XVIII. , pars VII. 

Paraldus, Simi77ia Virt. ac Vitiorum, lib. II., fol. 52(b). 

Bromyard, Sumi7ia Frcedicantiu7ti, E, III., 45. 



NORTH-ENGLISH HOMILY COLLECTION 8 1 

Johannes Junior, Scala Ce/i, De avaritia, fol. 15(a). 

Herolt, Prompt. Exe77ipl., exem. E, XI. 

Jacobus Well, chap. XVIII. (ed. Brandeis, p. 125). 

Caxton's Vitas Patrum, fol. 247. 

The story is also given as no. 18 in a collection of Latin fables and 
exempla published by A. Tobler, Zts. filr ro7nanische Phil., XII., pp. 
57-88, from MS. Hamilton 390, Kgl. Bibliothek zu Berlin. No ref- 
erence is made to the Vitce Patrum, nor is the man represented as a 
gardener, although the general course of events is the same. 

(42) The Wicked Brother of a Monk : 

St. Gregory tells us that once a clerk made himself a monk and be- 
came very holy. He had a brother who was worldly and loved noth- 
ing but folly. The brother lived in the abbey and was a sorrow to all, 
yet was endured for the sake of the good monk. The abbot gave him 
clothing and food, for he was n'er-do-well. He fell sick and at last 
drew near to death. The brothers came to pray for him, and as they 
stood beside his bed they saw that he suffered torment. As he lay 
tossing about he saw an ugly dragon approaching prepared to strangle 
him. He cried out and besought the monks to leave him, as he was 
the certain prey of the dragon. They, however, prayed all the faster 
and bade him pray. He said he could not, because the dragon lay 
upon him and had his head in its mouth so that his cheeks were wet 
with the foam. Still the monks prayed and with such effect that the 
dragon ran away. The sick man thanked God and amended his life, 
so that he lived and died a holy man. 

This tale comes ultimately from Gregory the Great to whom it is 
referred. Indeed, it is very probable that our author took it directly 
from his works, since they were widely circulated in England. It is 
found both in the Ho7iiilies and Dialogues. The former is more nearly 
like our version. It begins : ''Ante biennium frater quidam in mon- 
asterium meum quod juxta beatorum martyrum Joannis et Pauli Ec- 
clesiam situm est, gratia conversationis venit, qui diu regulariter pro- 
tractus, quandoque susceptus est." Homilia, lib. II., hom. j8 
(Migne, Patr. Curs. Lat., LXXVL, col. 1292). The brother is 
said to have followed the monk because of *' carnali amore." In the 
version of the Dialogues (lib. IV., cap. 38, Migne, Patr. Curs. Lat., 
LXXVIL, col. 389) the brother is named, ''Theodorus nomine, 
puer fuit, qui in monasterium meum, fratrem suum necessitate magis 
quam voluntate secutus est." 



82 G. H. GEROULD 

The version of the Dialogues is that given by Etienne de Besan^on 
in the Alphabetiun Narratioiium (MS. Bibl. Nat. lat. 159 13, fol. 
59(a)), who ascribed it to Gregory. Without reference to Gregory 
and without names is the version of John Herolt, Sermones de Tei7i- 
pore, sermo, 121. 

A variant with a different ending occurs in the Speculum Morale, 
lib. II., dist. IV., pars I. With no justification it is referred to Bede. 
*' Idem etiam narrat de quodam fabro, qui propter necessitatem operum, 
in quodam monasterio sustentatus a fratribus, irreligiose vivebat. ' ' He 
was taken sick and said that he saw hell yawning before him with Satan, 
Caiphas and the others who slew Christ in the abyss. He was ex- 
horted to repent, but was unable to do so and died in his sins. 

(43) Saint Pelagia : 

In Antioch lived a woman called Dame Pelagia who was a harlot of 
such fame that she attracted dukes, earls and barons from many towns, 
and other men from all nations. Now the archbishop of that city 
made a great assembly of bishops. It happened that they met in a 
public place where they spoke of the needs of the soul. As they sat 
there Pelagia rode by to show her beauty to the multitude. She was 
richly clad and followed by a crowd of men, young and old. When 
they saw her all the bishops covered their eyes with their hoods except 
one who gazed long upon her to the great wonder of his fellows who 
esteemed him holy. At length he began to weep and counselled the 
bishops concerning her, confessing that he had almost been led astray. 
That night he dreamed that as he was singing mass he saw a black and 
stinking bird fly about his head, that while he was going homeward he 
saw the bird again and cast it into a stone basin filled with water, 
whence it came out white as snow and flew towards heaven. The 
next day, while he was preaching, Pelagia came to the church to show 
her beauty, but she was so moved that, to the wonder of the people, 
she began to weep for her sins. Later she sent the bishop a letter 
praying for the love of Christ that she might come to him to learn how 
to leave her sin. He sent word that she might see him but only in 
the presence of the other bishops. This she did and fell at his feet 
begging his pity. He told her that she could only be received into 
the church if sponsors would stand for her. At this she cried out the 
more and told of her penitence. So all the bishops sent word to the 
bishop of the city, who sent a prioress called Romayne to be sponsor 
at the baptism. St. Nomnus asked Pelagia her name. She said Pe- 
lagia by right, though men called her Margaret for her beauty. She 



NORTH-ENGLISH HOMILY COLLECTION 83 

made confession of her sins, was baptized, and placed in the care of 
the prioress. That day as they all sat together at a feast they heard 
groans and weeping — the devil lamenting for the souls which he had 
lost that day in Eliopolis. At the sign of the cross made by Pelagia 
he flew away but returned to her on the third night and again lamented 
his loss. On the morn, after she had called her servants together and 
given them a thousand gold bezants, she brought her wealth to Nom- 
nus and bade the saint distribute it all in alms. That same day she 
put off her good clothing and in the night escaped secretly to the 
Mount of Olives. There she lived in a little house as a man and was 
known as Pelagius. Now the bishop had a clerk named John who 
asked leave to go to Jerusalem on pilgrimage. The bishop, knowing 
through the Holy Ghost where Pelagia had gone, gave the clerk per- 
mission and told him to enquire after Dan Pelagius. The clerk soon 
came to Jerusalem and heard of the holy hermit, whom he visited but 
did not recognize, though Pelagia knew him. He told her of Nomnus, 
and she asked for the prayers of that holy man, then barred again her 
doors. Two days later the clerk returned and found her dead. He 
spread the news, and when the other hermits came to wash the body 
they found that Pelagius was a woman. Then he knew that it was 
indeed Pelagia, and praising God he returned to tell the news at home. 

The source of the Pelagia legend is a life of the saint by Jacobus 
Diaconus, who represents himself as the disciple who found her living 
at Jerusalem as Pelagius. Printed inAcfa Safict., Oct., tom. IV., die 
8, p. 262. Pelagia' s date is 290 A.D. 

Dr. Horstmann, Uber Osbern Bokenam, p. 3, has the following 
note upon Pelagia and the related legend : '■ ' Die mythischen sind 
entweder durch Umwandlung antiker Gottheiten und Mythen in 
christliche Heilige und Legenden entstanden : wie (nach Useners 
Annahme, in s. Legenden der Pelagia, 1879) die an der kleinasiatis- 
chen Kiiste auftauchenden hh. Pelagia, Marina, Margarita, Pelagia, 
Eugenia, Theodora alle nur Metamorphosen der asiat. Aphrodite 
(Aphr. pelagia, Venus marina) sind, oder wie die Siebenschlafersage 
aus dem Kabylenkultus abgeleitet scheint. ' ' 

The legend of Marina is given in the present collection as Mawryne 
(no. 16). To the list in Horstmann should be added Porphyria who 
became Pelagia. Vita Johan. Elymosinarii, in Vitce Patrum (Migne, 
Pair. Curs. Lat., LXXIIL, col. 377). It bears some resemblance to 
the Thaisis legend (see no. 34). 



84 G. H. GEROULD 

The Pelagia legend is found in Jacobus a Voragine, Lege7ida Aurea, 
cap. CL. (ed. Graesse, p. 674). In this version the order of events 
is somewhat different. There is no assembly of bishops ; the good 
bishop is called Veronus of Heliopoleos (or Damieta) ; the abbess 
Romana is not mentioned nor any sponsor, and the letters between 
Pelagia and the bishop are differently arranged. This version appears 
again in Jean de Vignay's translation, fol. 195(a), and in Caxton's 
Golden Legend. In English there is also the free and somewhat 
expanded paraphrase in Barbour' s Lege7id Collection (ed. Horstmann, 
II., p. 74; Metcalfe, II., p. 204). 

The Met. Horn, legend does not belong to this group, however, 
and probably comes directly from the life by Jacobus Diaconus. This 
is proved by likeness in order as well as by similarity in names. 
Nonnus of the original becomes Nomnus, and Romana Romayne. To 
the same group belongs the Pelagia of An Old English Marty ro logy 
(ed. Herzfeld) where it is told for Oct. 19. Also in Caxton's Vitas 
Patrum, fol. 62. 

(44) The Knight who forgave his Enemy : 

There was once a knight who slew another in combat and held him- 
self in a castle to avoid the son of the latter who had sworn vengeance. 
On a Good Friday he saw the folk going barefoot to church, and he 
determined to go forth himself. 

" * Haue I,' he saide, 'no lyfe hot ane.' " 

Soon he met his enemy, who lay in wait, and in answer to the re- 
proaches of the young knight he fell to his knees crying mercy for the 
love of Christ. Moved by the appeal the knight not only forgave his 
father's slayer, but kissed him and went with him to the church. At 
the mass he was courteous and put the old knight first in making offer- 
ing to the cross. When at length he knelt devoutly to kiss the image, 
the figure on the rood embraced and kissed him. So he and all the 
people praised God. 

This well-known legend, which appears in several forms, probably 
was first connected with the life of San Giovanni Gualberto, the 
founder of Vallombrosa, who lived in the nth century. Two early 
biographers, Beato Andrea, Abbate Strumensi, and Attone gave the 
legend in its first form. Acta Sanct., Jul., tom. III., die XII. (re- 
printed by Migne, Fatr. Curs. Lat., CXLVI., col. 667 and col. 765). 
A Florentine noble in the time of Emperor Henry, Gualbertus by 
name, had two sons, Ugo and Johannes. The latter was especially 



NORTH-ENGLISH HOMILY COLLECTION 85 

loved by all. A certain man killed " quemdam propinquum ejus." 
One day this man met Johannes in a narrow way on a hill -slope, and 
in fear leaped from his horse to kneel at the feet of the knight. Crav- 
ing pardon he made the sign of the cross with his arms. This moved 
Johannes' pity, who allowed the enemy to go in peace. Later he 
went into a church, where the crucifix bent his head to show approval. 

The Commentariics in Acta Sanct., p. 311, says that the Breviai'ium 
Romanitin and later writers speak of Ugo as having been killed and 
of the pardon taking place on Good Friday. It suggests that these 
changes were brought about by the influence of Petrus Damianus (see 
Migne, Pair. Curs. Lat., CXLV., col. 654), who has the story of a 
man who killed another of higher rank than himself. He was pursued 
by the son of the slain with thirty followers. He himself had but five 
attendants and so begged for mercy by the cross which he made. 
Here the image in a church not far off bowed three times. 

From this to the later versions the changes were easily made. The 
tale appears in Caesar von Heisterbach, Dial. Mirac, dist. VIII., cap. 
XXI., beginning ''Temporibus nostris in provincia nostra." The 
events run thus : A murderer was pursued and pardoned by the son of 
his enemy. The young knight shortly afterwards crossed the sea on a 
crusade, and when he entered the Church of the Holy Sepulchre the 
crucifix bowed to him. Etienne de Besan^on reproduces this version 
exactly in Alph. Narr., MS. Bibl. Nat. lat. 15913, fob 56(a), re- 
ferring to Caesarius and placing the events in Theutonia. The version 
of Jacob' s Well, chap. XL. (ed. Brandeis, p. 252) also refers to 
Caesarius and Theutonia but here the ending is the more common one 
of the Met. Horn. The image said : "■ ])0u forjyue ])is kny^t ]n faderis 
deth for my loue & kyssed hym ; per-fore I for jeue ])e alle ]n synnes 
& kysse ]>e. " 

The German version, in VaMli's Schimpf und Er?ist (ed. Oesterley), 
no. 692, lays the scene in Florence and gives the form of popular 
tradition where the brother was slain and they went arm-in-arm to 
church of " Sancti Ameniati." 

John Herolt in the XIV. century gave two Latin versions : one in 
Sermones de Tempore, no. 130, where the young knight met the elder 
going to church unarmed, though he had not previously been able to 
find him; another in Prompt. Exemp. I, ex. 16, referred to Guliel- 
mus. In the latter, perhaps from a recollection of the Burgundian 
hero, the man slain was named Guntherus. His brother, who is not 
named, had set out on a pilgrimage with a great company and unex- 



86 G. H. GEROULD 

pectedly encountered the murderer. Three times the noble, urged on 
by his followers, was on the point of killing his brother's foe but at 
length pardoned him. That day as he knelt three times before a 
crucifix the image each time bowed to him. Only a holy man saw 
who questioned the knight and learned the good deed he had done. 

Most like the version of the Met. Hoi7i., is that of William of Wad- 
ington and Robert of Brunne (ed. Furnivall, p. 120). This is the 
only other example I have found where the slayer held himself in his 
castle and only went out on Good Friday. According to this account 
the knight had remained for twelve months in his " best castel. " The 
image took his arm off the cross to embrace the young knight. Either 
the French treatise or its translation is the probable immediate source 
of our tale. 

A curious variant of the legend is told by Roger of Wendover, 
Chronica (ed. Hewlett, HI., p. 22). A vassal of King Richard was 
caught hunting in the domain of the King, New Forest, and was ban- 
ished the realm. Reduced to beggary he entered a church in Nor- 
mandy where Richard was worshipping. He bowed humbly before 
the cross, and every time he knelt the image' bowed his head. The 
King saw this and asked the man what he had done to merit such 
honour. The knight narrated that in youth he had lost his father, 
and when he grew up he pursued the murderer. The latter avoided 
him till Good Friday when he went unguarded to church. The young 
knight overtook him at a wayside cross, but pardoned him when he 
embraced the cross and promised to build a chapel there for the vic- 
tim's soul. So when he heard the story Richard too was merciful and 
restored the knight to his lands. 

(45) St. Gregory and Trajan's Soul : 

Trajan w^as an emperor of Rome, who, though he lived and died a 
heathen, was a good man. Many winters afterward Gregory, the Pope 
of Rome, passed before the emperor's gate and wept that such a good 
king should have gone to hell. So great was his pity, that he prayed 
before the high altar that the soul of Trajan might be brought out of 
hell. As he prayed, he fell asleep and heard an angel say that Christ 
had granted his prayer but that he must never again pray for those who 
had gone to hell. 

This legend of Gregory the Great is told in the life of the saint by 
Johannes Diaconus, H., 44 (Migne, Pair. Curs. Lat., LXXV., coL 
104). Other references are these : 



NORTH-ENGLISH HOMILY COLLECTION 87 

Jacobus a Voragine, Legenda Au?-ea, cap. XLVI. (ed. Graesse, p. 

196). 
Paraldus, Summa Virt. ac Vit., lib. I., pars II., tract. II., cap. IV. 

(fol. 17(a)). 
Etienne de Besan^on, Alph. Narr., MS. Bibl. Nat. lat. 159 13, fob 

65(a). 

Henry of Huntingdon, Hist. Anglorum, I., 25 (ed. Arnold, p. 23). 

Flores Historiarinn, I., 283 (ed. Luard, I., p. 291). 

La Vie de S. Gregoire par Frere Angier (ed. Meyer, Rom., XII., p. 

186). 
Secreta Secretorum, ed. Steele, p. 169. 

( 46 ) The Imprisoned Jews : 

God chose a people called the Jews for his own. They were des- 
cended from twelve brothers and received countless benefits from God, 
yet they forsook Him many times and as many times were punished. 
The King of Babylon had many Jews in his realm, and for their wick- 
edness he drove them into a wilderness surrounded by high hills and 
commanded that they should never come out. Many winters after- 
ward King Alexander who had conquered the world came there. The 
Jews prayed him that they might have leave to come out. He asked 
them, as books tell us, why they were shut up in the hills. A man 
answered that they had forsaken their God who had done more for 
them than for any other people. When Alexander heard this he com- 
manded that walls of masonry be built so that the Jews should never 
get out. But what was built by day fell down by night. Seeing this 
Alexander prayed that God would bring the hills together to make 
high walls. North, south, east, and west the hills were bound together 
by his prayer, so that nothing but flying fowl can escape. There the 
Jews shall remain till Doomsday, when they will go out to slay Chris- 
tians and receive Antichrist, thinking him the true Christ. 

For the history of this Christian legend grafted upon the oriental 
romances of Alexander the Great, see Noldeke, Beitrdge zur Geschichte 
des Alexanderro7na7ts, 1890; Budge, The History of AIexa?ider the 
Great, 1889, and The Life and Exploits of Alexander the Great, 
1896, and Paul Meyer, Alexandre le Grand dans la litterature fran- 
gaise du Moyen Age, 1886. 

All the legendary tales of Alexander are based upon the Greek his- 
tory falsely attributed to his companion, Callisthenes. The pseudo- 
Callisthenes lived not later than 200 A. D., and was probably an 



8S G. H. GEROULD 

Egyptian.^ The Christian legend, of which the story of the Caspian 
gates forms a part, is found in the metrical discourse of Jacob of 
SerGgh (J52i)^ in Syraic,^ to whom it owes its main character, 
especially the use of biblical names. A prose Syriac version printed 
by Budge, Hist, of Alex., was somewhat earlier than this but was 
written by some one who knew the inroads of the Huns into Europe 
in the fifth century, because they replace the people of Gog and Magog 
of the earlier version. Both these works are '' based upon the twenty- 
ninth chapter of the third book of Pseudo-Callisthenes. ' ' * An Ethiopic 
version is inserted into the romance in that tongue printed by Budge, 
Life afid Exploits. Various other references in Greek and oriental 
writings are given by Budge, Noldeke, and Meyer, but in all of 
these the wall is made against the Huns or the forces of Gog and 
Magog. 

The reference in Josephus is the only one which need be mentioned 
here, since Josephus is cited as authority by Petrus Comestor (f 
1 1 78) . The latter follows, however, the more distinctly Christian form 
of Jacob of Serugh in his account found in the Historia Scholastica, lib. 
Esther, cap. .V. (Migne, Fat7\ Curs. Lat:, CXCVHI., col. 1498); 
and his is the indirect original, at all events, of our version. The 
second part of the story as related by Peter and the author of Met. 
Horn, is also given by Vincent of Beauvais, Spec. Hist., lib. IV., cap. 
43 ; by Holkot, Opus sup. Sap. Salomonis, lect. CXCVHI.; and in 
Flores Hist., ed. Tuard, I., p. 65. 

The version more common in western Europe was that based upon 
the tenth century translation of Pseudo-Callisthenes by the Neapolitan 
Archbishop Leo, the Historia Alexandri Magni de Proeliis. This 
appears in the- French romance in alexandrines, where after conquer- 
ing Gog and Magog Alexander encloses them in the mountains of 
''Tus" whither they had fled.^ Meyer regards '^Tus" as a corrup-. 
tion of ^ ' mons Caspius " or ' ' mons Imaiis. ' ' ® We find two English 
references to this version : Wulfstan, ed. Napier, p. 84, variant to 
line 12, in homily from MS. Bod. NE. F. IV. 12 ; and The Wars of 
Alexander, ed. Skeat, p. 270. 

1 Budge, Hist, of Alex., p. Ixxvii. 

2 Noldeke. 

^ Given in trans, by Budge, Hist, of Alex., p. 163 fif. 
< Budge, Hist, of Alex., p. Ixxvii. 

5 Meyer, II., p. 386 fif. 

6 11., p. 389. 



NORTH-ENGLISH HOMILY COLLECTION 89 

(47) Tarsilla, Gordiana and Emiliana : 

Gregory says that his father had three sisters who wished to be in 
rehgion. The eldest was named Tarsilla, the second Gordiana and 
the youngest Emiliana, who was held to be fair. A bishop gave them 
their nun's garb and taught them how to lead a holy life. They dwelt 
together in their own house. Tarsilla and Emiliana served God faith- 
fully, but Gordiana became an evil woman. She loved to walk in the 
streets, to play and to sing, but she thought it wearisome to talk of 
holy things. Her sisters were made sorrowful on her account and 
reproved her, but to no purpose. She gave all her life to pleasure and 
longed to marry. After many years God wished to take Tarsilla from 
the woe of the world and in her sleep sent Felix, who had been Pope 
in his lifetime, to warn her. Soon after she died. Thereafter she 
appeared to Emiliana calling her to heaven. When both her sisters 
were dead, Gordiana stood in awe of no one and took a husband, thus 
breaking her covenant with God. 

This story probably came directly to our author from the works of 
Gregory the Great, where it is told in the same form. Homilia, lib. 
II., 38 (Migne, Pair. Curs. Lat., LXXVL, col. 1290). The story 
of Tarsilla' s death is also found in the Dialogues, lib. IV., cap. XVI. 
(Migne, LXXVIL, col. 348). The Felix mentioned is Felix III. 
(see note to 'the above, col. 348). 

The author of the Speculum Morale relates the story but is not the 
source of our version, because he expressly states that Gordiana married 
her steward (custos agrorum suorum). Spec. Mor., lib. III., dist. 
XXXVI., pars X. 

(48) The Despised but Holy Nun : 

St. Basil tells us of a nunnery where dwelt a woman who was en- 
tirely given up to God but who was conj^dered evil by her companions 
because of her heavy countenance. They scorned her, called her 
*' oule & vgly thyng," and made her do all the menial tasks of the con- 
vent. A holy hermit lived near by to whom God said that a woman 
lived in the nunnery far holier than he, and bade him go there in the 
morning. Thither he went and was well received by the nuns. He 
asked that all the nuns be called together, and when they were gathered 
he said that he missed the one on whose account he had come. They 
said that none lacked except a woeful wight who was unworthy to be 
seen. He asked, nevertheless, that she be brought, and when she had 
come he fell to his knees before her. She in turn bowed before him. 



90 G. H. GEROULD 

The nuns reproved him for kneeling to such a foul thing. But he told 
them of his message from God, so that they all fell down and asked the 
woman's forgiveness. She prayed God to forgive them but soon fled 
away by night from the place and was never heard of more. We be- 
lieve that God took her into paradise. 

Though this legend is referred to St. Basil by our author, it really 
comes from Heraclides Paradisus, cap. XXI. (Migne, Fair. Curs. Lat.^ 
LXXIV., col. 299). The hermit Piterius was sitting in Porphyrite 
when an angel appeared and told him to go to the convent of Taben- 
nensiotae, where lived the holy sister. It is also found in Palladius, 
cap. XLI. (see Migne, LXXIV., par. 938) ; in the Alph. Narr., of 
Etienne de Besan^on, MS. Bibl. Nat. lat. 15913; and in Jacobus 
Well, chap. XII. (ed. Brandeis, p. 81). The latter two versions 
refer to Heraclides. All of them give the name of the hermit, which 
leaves the immediate source of our version conjectural though Etienne 
seems the most probable authority (see nos. 33 and 45). 

(49) The Backbiting Monk : 

There was a monk prone to backbiting. Though he bore monk's 
garb he was never monk in deed. At length he died. Afterwards 
another monk was praying one night in the cloisters for the quick and 
the dead. As he went about he saw a grinning monk sitting there 
who cut his tongue into morsels and ate it. This he did -many times, 
and when he put out his tongue it glowed like hot iron. The monk 
who saw this hideous sight was frightened but yet conjured the other 
to tell him what he was. The woeful wight answered weeping and 
told his name. He said that he suffered this pain because he was wont 
to speak ill of his fellows behind their backs, and that he must ever re- 
main in hell. When he had so spoken he disappeared. 

The legend of the back -biting monk has two forms, that of the Met. 
Horn, where he was punished after death, and another where his tor- 
ment began before he died. The second form seems to be the earlier, 
which a love for the marvellous changed into the more sensational 
version. According to Thomas Cantipratanus, who was suffragan 
bishop of Cambrai in the second half of the 13th century, we are to 
believe that the story originated with him. He says {^Bomwi Univ. 
de Apibus, ed. 1627, p. 389) : " Huius rei vindictam horribilem 
valde & mirabilem vidi. Novi ordine, non re ; nomine, non actibus 
sacerdotem, etc. ' ' He proceeds with the version where the monk was 
tortured before death. The same is given in Spec. Mor., lib. III., 



NORTH-ENGLISH HOMILY COLLECTION 9 1 

dist. I., pars IV., and by John Herolt, Prompt. Exemp., D, ex. XI. 
In the former the event is said to have happened in England. 

The mystical version of the Met. Horn, is found also in William of 
Wadington, Le Manuel des Fechiez, and Robert of Brunne's Hand- 
lyng Synne (ed. Furnivall, p. 113). William says that the event 
happened in England and that he knows the place, though he won't 
tell what it is. Robert translated this statement. Though there are 
differences of detail between this version and ours and though that of 
the treatise is longer, it seems probable that this is the source whence 
the author of the Met. Horn, took the legend. The Latin version 
of John Bromyard, Sunima Prcedicantium, D, VI., 29, has this form, 
but it was not written till the second half of the 14th century. 

(50) The Story of Esther : Biblical. 

(51) The Widow's Candle: 

A widow so loved Our Lady that she had made a chapel where 
she heard a mass each day. Once while her priest was gone Candle- 
mas came round. She was sad because she could have no mass and 
made her prayer alone in the chapel. There she fell asleep before 
the altar and dreamed that she was brought into a church whither 
came a great company of maidens with a lady. They sat down and 
were followed by men young and old. A clerk brought candles and 
gave them to all, even to her. Then entered two clerks bearing tapers 
and after them subdeacons and deacons followed by Christ in the robes 
of a mass-priest. A Coftfiteor was said, and afterward the mass. 
When the offertory came the lady offered her taper, and after her the 
others. But the widow would not give hers up. Then Our Lady sent 
word that she did wrong to keep the priest so long before the altar. 
She answered that she would never give up what God had sent her. 
The Lady commanded the messenger to take it by force. Yet the 
widow held fast, so that the candle broke between them, and she 
started out of sleep having the candle tightly elapsed in both hands. 
She thanked God and treasured the candle till her death when it was 
given to an abbey, where it works miracles. 

Jacobus a Voragine, Legenda Aurea, cap. XXXVII. (ed. Graesse, 
p. 165) has this story with one or two differences. He gives as an 
alternative reason why the lady did not hear mass, that she had given 
all her clothes to the poor and could not go to church. There is a 
distinction between her church and her private chapel. Also the 
saints Vincent and Lawrence are named as attending Christ in the 



92 G. H. GEROULD 

dream. This version is also found in MS. Brit. Mus. Arund. 506, 
fol. 52, and MS. Brit. Mus. Harl. 2316, fol. 18. 

More like the Met. Horn, tale and its probable original (or a form 
parallel with that original) is the version of Jean Mielot in his Miracles 
de Nostre-Dame, no. 6 (ed. Warner, p. 9). 

(52) The Prioress who was Miraculously Delivered : 
As the prioress of a nunnery was going about the needs of her abbey 
one day, she found before the gate a little female child. She took 
pity on the foundling and reared her. At length she made her a nun 
and loved her heartily. Indeed, she loved all her spiritual daughters 
and kept them from folly. For this she was loved by the good nuns 
but hated by the fools. The fiend had envy of her for her goodness 
and tempted her to lust, so that at last she fell into sin with her steward 
and conceived of him. She confided her trouble in the foundling 
whom she had reared, enjoining her to secrecy. This the nun prom- 
ised, and proposed to the lady that when the child was born she should 
do away with it and bury it in the garden. So it was agreed. But 
the nun was false and betrayed the abbess to the bishop, who was made 
sad, because he had thought the prioress a good woman. The nuns, 
too, heard of her deed, and some were sorry but others were glad and 
sent letters to the bishop. He appointed a day to hear the case. 
When the day came the abbess was great with child and near delivery. 
That night she remained waking and praying in her chapel, with tears 
beseeching Our Lady to help her. Finally for weariness she fell 
asleep before the altar. Then came Our Lady and reproved her for 
her folly, but delivered her of a male child while she slept. Mary 
placed the infant in an angel's arm and bade him bear it to a hermit 
who lived more than seven miles away, and to tell the hermit that he 
should baptize and rear it. Then Mary disappeared ; and the 
prioress woke and remained in prayer all the night. In the morning 
came the bishop and his clergy to give judgment. The bishop sent 
women to examine the prioress who were sworn to tell the truth. 
They found her a virgin. Then the bishop was angry with the nun 
who had given information and bade that she be burned. To save her 
the prioress told the bishop secretly all the truth. He sent to the her- 
mit and found the child. When the boy was seven years old the 
bishop made him a good scholar, and he became the bishop's successor. 

This conte devot is very well known, but appears nowhere else, so 
far as I know, in the same form. The incident of the foundling nun 



NORTH-ENGLISH HOMILY COLLECTION 9^ 

is either an invention of our author or something which he found in his 
immediate original, whether written or oral. Not one of the twenty 
other examples contain it. The ordinary course of the tale is this : 
An abbess, tempted by the devil, sins with a youth connected with her 
convent. The nuns who hate her write to the bishop. On the night 
before an intended examination she is miraculously delivered and the 
child sent to a hermit. The examination is triumphantly concluded 
and the wicked nuns forgiven after the abbess' secret confession. 

The trait which varies most uniformly in all the representatives is 
the form of examination to which the abbess was subjected. Though 
only a minor point it furnishes a clue to the proper arrangement of the 
stories. The examiners were either : (A) two clerks (usually suc- 
ceeded by the bishop himself) ; or (B) women whom the bishop had 
brought with him ; or (C) form not specified. 

A. In this group the bishop',s name is usually given as Antistes. 
It includes eleven representatives : 
Vincent of Beauvais, Spec. Hist., lib. VII., cap. 86. (Probably the 

earliest version here mentioned. ) 
Etienne de Besan^on, Alph. Narr., A, MS. Bibl. Nat. lat. 159 13, fol. 

3(b), referred to Mariale Magnum.^ 
Exempla de Beata Vi7'gine, no. 39 (mentioned by Mussafia, I., p. 30 

as no. ^5), MS. Bibl. Nat. lat. 18134, fol. 148(a). 
Exempla, no. 2, MS. Bibl. Nat. lat. 5267, fol. 3(b). 
- 55, - - - - 14463, fol. 39(a). 
'' " I, " '' '' " 17491, fol. 42(b). 
- - - - 2333A, fol. 34(b). 
Liber de Mir aculis, Potho (ed. B. Pez., no. 2)^^- 
Latin Stories, ed. Wright, no. 38, p. 38 (from MS. Brit. Mus. Harl. 

2316, fol. 6). 
Jean Mielot, Miracles de Nostre-Daine, no. 50 (ed. Warner, p. 44) 

(bishop not named). 
Provencal version, translation of ordinary Latin type, ed. J. Ulrich in 

Rom., VIII., p. 20 ff. as no. 8 in his collection of exempla from 

MS. Addit. 17920 in Brit. Mus. 
Also a miracle-play of early 15th century (according to P. Paris) 
contained in MS. Bibl. Nat. fran. 819, fol. 14(a), appears to belong 
to this group. 

^ For a discussion of this work, now lost, and its attribution to Alexander de Hales, 
see Hist. Litt. de la France, XVIII., p. 321 (art. by Petit-Radel). 



94 G. H. GEROULD 

B. Most of the representatives of this group are in French, but the 
Met. Horn, version belongs to it. The number of women varies con- 
siderably, though five is the favorite number. The group has seven 
members which I have examined : 

Miraciila Virginis, MS. Harl. 2316, fol. 7(b), (the only Latin ver- 
sion). 
Gautier de Coincy (from MS. Harl. 4401, fol. 45(b)), ed. Ulrich, 
Zeitschrift f. r. FhiL, VI., p. 334 (not printed by I'Abbe Po- 
quet). 
Meon, Nouveau Recueil, II., p. 314. 

Mielot, Miracles de Nostre-Dame, no. 70 (ed. Warner, p. 73). 

(The three above are similar metrical versions, but independent.) 

Le Grand d'Aussy, Fabliaux ou Contes, V., p. 63 (an analysis of 

some French version, but not of one here mentioned). 
Miracles de la Vierge, no. 31, MS. Bibl. Nat. fran. 410, fol. 22(b). 
Met. Horn. 

The version from MS. fran. 410, though in 15th century prose and 
therefore far later not only than our version but also than any other 
here mentioned, has curiously enough a suggestion ef the foundling- 
nun story. That is, it states that the abbess was tempted to destroy 
her child, though by whom tempted it does not say. 

C. The five representatives which do not specify the form of exami- 
nation are simply, I think, shortened forms of A : 

Etienne de Bourbon, Anecdotes Hist. (ed. Lecoy de la Marche, p. 

114). 
Miracula, no. 33, MS. Bibl. Nat. lat. 5562, fol. 30(a). 
" '' 78, '' '' '' '' 12593, fol. 193(b). 
Johannes Junior, Scala Cell, fol. loi(a). 
Herolt, De Miractilis, B. V., ex. 25. 

Scala Cell refers again to the Mariale Magnum, and proves the 
connection with group A. 

To type A belongs also a story from MS. Balliol 240, no. 12 (re- 
ferred to by Mussafia, III., p. 29). It is, however, remarkable, as be- 
ing the only other version beside Met. Horn, which states that the 
abbess confided in a nun, here " little by little." The nun tells the 
archdeacon, the archdeacon the bishop. No mention is made as in 
the version of MS. fran. 410 and Met. H0771. of a plan to destroy the 
child. The existence of the nun in the original tale seems probable 
since she is found in both A and B. As will be seen our English 
version is, then, the most complete of any here treated. 



NORTH -ENGLISH HOMILY COLLECTION 95 

(53) Saint Alexis : 

In Rome was once a rich man named Eufemian whose wife was 
named Aglase. He was a senator and very rich. He had three 
thousand servants whom he clothed and fed daintily, and he was so 
charitable that he had always ready in his hall three boards, one for 
pilgrims, another for the poor, and a third for orphans. So they lived 
in wealth and holiness, and wanted nothing on earth but one. They 
had no child. At last God heard their repeated prayers and sent 
them a son. They gave thanks and christened the boy Alexis which 
means in our tongue, ' ' Manne fullfilled of gode thewes. ' ' The child 
grew and became both learned and holy. When he had arrived at 
man's estate his father arranged that he marry a fair maiden of the 
emperor's kin, and brought her to his house. There was a great 
bridal with mirth and feasting and rich gifts. The poor were not for- 
gotten, moreover. At length the bridal couple were put to bed. 
When all were gone out of the chamber Alexis preached to his bride 
of the blessedness of virginity, gave her jewels and also his gold ring, 
to be a token between them. He told her that he must go thence, 
into what land he could not tell. She replied meekly. He took 
silver and gold and rich clothing, and departed. Soon he found a 
ship and crossed the sea. He entered a city, changed his rich clothing 
for that of a beggar and fled fast away. For seven winters he lived as 
a beggar, clad in hair and eating only bread and water. When Eu- 
femian missed his son he wept, as also did the mother. They sent 
messengers into every land to seek Alexis. Two of these messengers 
came where he was sitting as a beggar in the street. They did not 
know him, he was so changed by penance and hunger, and they gave 
him alms as well as to the other poor men that they might pray for the 
discovery of Alexis. Alexis thanked God that he had received alms of 
his own servants. The messengers went home and made the father 
sorrow, the mother weep and tear her hair and lament in sackcloth. 
The young wife wept and declared that she would remain faithful to 
her lost husband. The city was called Edissa where Alexis lived in 
poverty. One day as he prayed before an image of Our Lady she 
came to him and commended his prayers. Another time she appeared 
to a sacristan in the church and bade him take in the poor man of 
God. The sacristan found many poor men and so prayed Our Lady 
to tell him what man she meant. The image answered him that he 
would find God's servant sitting among the poor men. So he found 
Alexis who was sad that his goodness had been discovered. The 



96 G. H. GEROULD 

people heard of the miracle, and made Alexis sit in a fair seat, and 
spoke to him with fair words. He prayed to God in humility and on 
a dark night escaping from the city came to the town of Laodise. 
Thence he shipped for Tarsus where he wished to dwell in St. Paul's 
church. But God turned the winds and sent the ship to Rome. 
Alexis met his father coming from the church and prayed him, if he 
loved anyone gone on a pilgrimage, that he would give him help. Eu- 
femian was reminded of his son and so took the poor man into his 
house, and gave him a chamber where he could go and come as he 
pleased, and commanded his servants to obey him. Thus Alexis lived 
for seventeen winters in the strictest penance, and he suffered patiently 
the insults of the wanton boys of the house who tried to frighten him 
at night, pulled his beard, and cast upon him the dish-washings. At 
length God sent tidings to him that he should die. Alexis thanked 
God and asked for ink and parchment with which he wrote his life 
and how he had lived in beggary for thirty-four years. This writing 
he clasped in his hand and soon died. It was Palm Sunday, and the 
people were gathered in church when they heard a voice saying : 
^' Comes all to me })t suffirs pyne." The people fell on their knees 
and sang the Kyrie Eleison and again the voice spoke, bidding them 
seek God's servant, who lay sick in the city. At that moment 
Alexis died. The people sought but did not find the man indicated 
by the voice. On Good Friday the Pope and his clergy went early 
to the church as did the two emperors and many lay folk. They all 
thought upon the voice, and the Pope bade them pray that they 
might find who was meant. So they did and at length heard a voice 
say that they should find in Eufemian's house the body of Alexis. 
At this all were glad, for there had been great woe at his loss. The 
Pope and clergy asked Eufemian who knew of no such man. So in 
procession they sought the holy body, as the book tells. Eufemian 
inquired of his servants if they knew such a man, but to no purpose 
till the boy who served Alexis came running to say that his master had 
died that morning and that he had done great penance. Eufemian 
ran to him, called, found him lying in rags but marvellously sweet in 
odor. His bed was all of little stones and he was clad in hair. Eu- 
femian told the Pope what he had found. The Pope addressed the 
body and took the parchment from its hand. He bade a clerk read it 
aloud. When this was done Eufemian began to weep and fell upon 
the dead body in sorrow. When Aglase heard the news she began to 
' ' roupe and rare, ' ' and to lament. The Pope dressed the body 



NORTH-ENGLISH HOMILY COLLECTION 



97 



richly and commanded that it be borne to the church. But so great 
was the crowd of sick and halt that they could not make way. The 
wise men of Rome thought of wiles and strewed pennies in the street, 
but scarcely could they even then bring the corpse to the church of 
St. Boniface. There was built a rich shrine for Alexis, and all sick 
men are healed who approach it. 

The versions of the Alexis legend in various languages differ only in 
details ; but an exhaustive comparison of them would require a separate 
and prolonged study, owing to the long and complicated nature of the 
narrative. The best accounts of the history of the legend are to be 
found in Massmann, Sand Alexius Leben^ 1843 '■> ^- Kotting, Studien 
iiber altfranzosische Bearbeitungen der Alexiuslegende, 1890; Amiaud, 
La lege?tde syriaque de Saint Alexis, 1885 ; P. Miiller, Studien ilber 
drei dramatis che BearbeitungeJi der Alexiuslegende, 1888. 

The legend was exceedingly popular both in France and England. 
The original French metrical version of the nth century was after- 
wards changed and expanded. It has been repeatedly printed in one 
form or another. It originated, according to M. Gaston Paris, in 
Normandy. A critical text of the various forms has been published 
by MM. Paris and Pannier, Vie de Saint Alexis, 1887. See also 
Eine altfra?izdsiche Alexius Legende aus dejfi ij Jahrhundert, ed. J. 
Herz ; Altfranzosisches Obungsbuch, ed. Foerster and Koschwitz, I. , 
p. 102 ; Gaston Paris in Romania, VIII., p. 163; Stengel, La Can- 
gun de Saint Alexis. 

English Versions : 

There are six metrical versions in English, all of which have been 
printed including that from the Met. LLom. 



I. MSS. 



Horstmann, Herng^ s AreAiv, LI., p. loi. 
Laud 108, ed. \ Furnivall, Adam Davie* s Five Dreatns, 
etc., 1878. 

Horstmann, Herrig's Archiv, LVL, p. 
Vernon, ed. j 391. 

^ Furnivall, as above. 

Naples, XIII. B. 29. 
^ Durham, V. II. 14. 



^ See Schipper, Die zweite Version, p. 232. 



98 



G. H. GEROULD 



(MSS. Laud, Vernon and Naples, ed. in crit. edition, Schipper, 
Alexius-legefiden, L, 1877.) 



II. MSS. 



Laud 463. 

Trin. Coll. 
Oxford 57. J 



III. MS. Laud 622, ed. 



Horstmann, ^Qxng^sArchiv, LVL, 

p. 401. 
Furnivall, as above, 
ed. \ Schipper, Die zweite Version der 
viittele ngl. A lexius - legen den^ 
1887 (a crit. ed. of the two 
L MSS.). 

Furnivall, as above. 

Horstmann, Herrig's^r^/^/z/, LIX.,p. 79. 



IV. Barbour's Legend Collection, ed. Horstmann, p. 210; Met- 
calfe, I., p. 441. 



V. MS. Cott. Titus, A. XXVI. , ed. 



' Furnivall, as above. 
Horstmann, Herrig's Archiv, 
LIX., p. 96. 



VI. Met. Horn., ed. from MSS. Ash. 42 and Camb. Gg, V. 31, by 
Horstmann, Altengl. Leg., Neue Folge, p. 174. 

The Barbour version follows the Legenda Aurea, cap. XCIV. (ed. 
Graesse, p. 403) very closely ; and the author of III. used the Latin 
life printed in Acta Sanct., Jul. IV., p. 238 ff., according to Kotting. 
Whether our version came from one of the redactions of the French 
metrical version or from a prose vita in Latin I am unable at present 
to decide. 

(54) Simon Magus : 

In the time of Peter there began to preach in Rome a false man 
called Simon Magus. He said that he was the son of God, and by 
witchcraft he restored men to life. Peter preached against him and 
made Simon angry. Then a man died and was brought into a public 
place that Peter and Simon might try their power in raising him to 
life. Whoever failed was to be slain. First Simon made his spell of 
witchcraft, and the head of the dead man stirred. Then the people 
would have slain Peter, but he bade them make Simon go away and 
they would see that the man was still dead. So it proved. Then Peter 



NORTH-ENGLISH HOMILY COLLECTION 99 

commanded him in the name of Christ to rise and tell what he knew 
of Simon. The man rose and told them that Simon was in the service 
of Satan. Then the people would have slain Simon had not Peter 
prevented them. Yet Simon did not cease to plot against Peter. He 
tied up a savage dog to see if Peter dared unloose it. Unsuccessful in 
this he fled from Rome for a twelvemonth. On his return he went to 
Nero and said that he had suffered both from Peter and Paul. He 
showed his power by changing into many forms, and asked the em- 
peror to smite off his head that he might rise the third day and prove 
his godhead. To this Nero agreed and commanded his executioner so 
to do. Simon took a sheep's head and by enchantment made it like 
his own. He bribed the executioner to strike off the head in the 
dark, and so on the third day he appeared to Nero. Nero believed in 
him, but Peter and Paul said he was Satan. Then Simon accused them 
to the Emperor falsely as traitors. Brought before Nero Peter proved 
that Simon was full of treason and demanded that if he were God he 
should tell what Peter was thinking. The emperor said that this was 
reasonable. So Peter in private asked the emperor for a barley loaf 
and this he blessed. Then he asked Simon what he had said and 
•done. Simon at this was woeful and called for his angels to slay 
Peter. There came forth black dogs, but they fled from the hallowed 
bread. Peter taunted him that his angels were of dog nature. Simon 
was angry and said that he would show his power of flying. So Nero 
caused to be made a high wooden tower from which by fiendish art 
Simon flew into the air. Again Nero believed him, but Peter com- 
manded the fiends that bare him to let him fall. So Simon perished 
and his soul went to hell in thunder. But Nero in wrath commanded 
that Paul be beheaded and Peter crucified. This was done, Peter's 
cross at his own request being turned upside down. 

This curious legend of Simon and the apostles, which reads like an 
account of a juggling contest, belongs to the earliest cycle of ecclesias- 
tical legends. For the development of the tale in the apocryphal his- 
tory of the apostles, see Lipsius, Die apocryphen Apostelgeschichten 
unci Apostellegenden, 1883-90, I., 126 ff. ; U., 28 ff. , 284 ff., etc., 
where the early versions are treated at great length. M. Foerster, 
Vber die Que lien von y^ /fries Honiilice Cathoiicc^, i legenden, 1892, 
p. 18 ff., makes a useful division of the Latin versions, (i) The re- 
suscitation of the man and the subjugation of the savage dog is repre- 
•sented by a letter of pseudo-Marcellus to the brothers Nereus and 



lOO G. H. GEROULD 

Achilles found in Acta Sanct., Mai 12, III., 9. (2) The other 
events are included in what is usually called Passio Petri et Pauli, 
printed in Anonyini Philalethi Eusebianiin vitas miracula passionesque 
apostolorum rhapsodicBy Koln, 1531 (see Lipsius, II., 284). 

These versions must have been welded by the loth cent., since they 
are found in the combined form in ^^Ifric, Homili(B Catholicce, ed., 
Thorpe I., 370. Though it is possible that he joined the two versions, 
it appears more probable that he simply translated a Latin version 
which had previously welded the two. The earlier versions in Eng- 
lish of Wulfstan, ed. Napier, p. 98, and of the Blickliiig Ho77iilies, 
ed. Morris, p. 171, are simply free renderings of the Passio men- 
tioned above. ^ 

It is probable that our version was taken from the Legenda Aurea, 
cap. LXXXIX. (ed. Graesse, p. 371), with which it agrees in all 
essentials. I can find no evidence that the compiler knew ^Ifric, 
and he certainly knew Jacques de Voragine. 

Simon's melodramatic end is similar to that of an evil-doer, of 
whom it is related in the life of St. Patrick by Jocelyn (end of the 
12 th cent.), and in that attributed toBede, that he was raised from the 
ground by devils, but was dashed down and killed by the prayer of the 
saint. See San Marte, Die Sagen von Merlin, p. 51. This is, of 
course, a case of " grafting." 

(55) The Wise Son: 

A certain knight had two sons. One of them was fond of hunting 
and followed his father to the war. The other loved learning and was 
very holy. During the knight's absence the latter entered a monas- 
tery and became a monk. His father in great anger led a force against 
the abbey and swore to destroy it unless his son were given up. In 
alarm the abbot besought the monk to go out and appease his father. 
So the young man went forth and promised to leave the monastery if 
one custom of the land were changed. The knight asked what this 
was. The young man said he meant the custom that both young and 
old should die. The father was so moved by this that he left the 
world and became a monk. 

By Etienne de Bourbon, Anecdotes Hist. (ed. Lecoy de la Marche, 
p. 58) this story is told of a lord of Vignori, who had a son, a soldier, 
who heard the soldiers of God singing as he passed Clairvaux. The 

1 Foerster, p. 18, note. 



NORTH-ENGLISH HOMILY COLLECTION lOI 

editor says concerning Vignori in a note, *'Sans doute, Vignory 
(Haute-Marne)." 

Other versions are : 
MS. Bibl. Nat. lat. 18134, fol. 206(a), as no. 80 oi Exempla ascribed 

to Jacques de Vitry. 
MS. Bibl. Nat. lat. 15913, fol. 25(a), Alph. Narr. of Etienne de 

Besangon. 
MS. Brit. Mus. Add. 26770, fol. 78(b), as no. 34 of a collection 

ascribed to Jacques de Vitry. 
Early English Versions of Gesta Rofti., ed. Herrtage, p. 364. 

Our version was doubtless taken from the Alph. Narr. or from the 
pseudo-Jacques de Vitry. 



I02 G. H. GEROULD 



SUMMARY OF SOURCES USED BY THE COMPILER 
OF THE COLLECTION. 

It must be confessed that this study of the sources of the North- 
English homilies has led to less definite positive results than was hoped. 
Little light has been thrown on the method of compilation of the col- 
lection as a whole, and less on the authorship. The negative results 
are somewhat greater and, by paradox, lead to certain conclusions 
which are scarcely disputable. The author of the original collection, 
with which alone I have concerned myself, has been shown to have 
been no mere compiler or translator. The former fact is proved by a 
comparison of many individual tales with their probable originals, 
where the narrator's naive skill has heightened the effect of the story 
he was telling, or where he has adapted a plot to suit his purpose as in 
the case of no. 38. That he was not a mere translator is pretty clearly 
shown, moreover, by the comparatively large number of works which 
contain the originals or close analogues of his tales. 

In presenting the following table of results I make no claim to abso- 
lute accuracy, since dogmatic statements in such matters are at best 
unsafe ; but I think that it may be trusted to show the originality of 
the first compiler and the range of his knowledge. 







Sources. 


No. 


I. 


Biblical. 


No. 


2. 


Some collection of Mary legends. 


No. 


3- 


Biblical. 


No. 


4- 


Some collection of Mary legends. 


No. 


5- 


Life of St. Martin. 


No. 


6. 


Vitce Patrum. 


No. 


7. 


VitcE. Patrum. 


No. 


8. 


None found. 


No. 


9- 


Biblical. 


No. 


10. 


Legenda Aiirea. 


No. 


II. 


Life of St. Thomas. 


No. 


12. 


Biblical. 


No. 


13- 


Dialogus Miraculorum by Caesar von Heisterbach 


No. 


14. 


Speculum Morale. 


No. 


15- 


None found. 



NORTH-ENGLISH HOMILY COLLECTION 1 03 

No. 16. Life of St. Marina. 

No. 17. Legenda A urea. 

No. 18. Life of St. Eustace. 

No. 19. VitcE Patrum. 

No. 20. Legenda Aurea. 

No. 21. Legenda Aurea. 

No. 22. Legenda Aurea. 

No. 23. F//^ Patrum. 

No. 24. Speculum Morale. 

No. 25. Life of St. Martin. 

No. 26. ^'/^ Patrimi. 

No. 27. Zz/"^ of St. Edmund. 

No. 28. Some collection of exempla. 

No. 29. Some collection of exempla (or possibly Nicole de Bozon). 

No. 30. Biblical. 

No. 31. Nicole de Bozon (?). 

No. 32. Summa Virtutum ac Vitiorum by Paraldus. 

No. 33. Alphabetum Narrationum by Etienne de Besan^on. 

No. 34. Vitce Patrmn. 

No. 35. Collection of exempla ascribed to Jacques de Vitry. 

No. 36. Biblical. 

No. 37. VitcB Patrum. 

No. 38. A YxQiich. fabliau. 

No. 39. Life of St. Theophilus. 

No. 40. Collection of exempla, or Wilham de Wadington (?). 

No. 41. VitcB Patrum, Speculum Morale, or Paraldus. 

No. 42. Llomilia of Gregory the Great. 

No. 43. Life of St. Pelagia. 

No. 44. Manuel des Pechiez by Wilham de Wadington (?). 

No. 45. Legenda Aurea, Paraldus, or Etienne de Besan^on. 

No. 46. Romance of Alexander (ecclesiastical version in Latin). 

No. 47. LLomilia of Gregory the Great. 

^I»? ...18. Etienne de Besan^on. 

Wilham de Wadington. 

Bibhcal. 

Some collection of Mary legends. 

Some collection of Mary legends. 

Life of St. Alexis. 

Legenda Aurea. 
Exempla ascribed to Jacques de Vitry, or Etiennede Be«:^" 



No. 


49- 


No. 


550- 


No. 


51- 


No. 


52. 


No. 


/53. 


No., 


'54. 


No/ 


55- 



\ 

1 / 



S?^''^ O*" CONGRESS 




013 978 938 6 



104 G. H. GEROULD 



For two tales (nos. 8 and 15) no originals or analogues have been 
found. In the case of two others (nos. 41 and 45) it is impossible to 
decide between a trio of similar stories as to which are the originals. 
Seven narratives were taken from the Bible, and an equal number from 
the VitcB Patrui7i. Independent lives of individual saints supplied the 
material for nine. Collections of Mary legends furnished four and 
anonymous collections of Latin exempla three or possibly five (see nos, 
40 and 55). Six came from Jacobus a Voragine's Legenda Aurea, and 
two or three (see no. 55) from Etienne's Alphabetum Narrationum. 
Two came from the Speculum Morale, falsely ascribed to Vincent of 
Beauvais, a like number from Gregory's Homilia, and two or three 
(see no. 40) from the French of Wilham de Wadington. One was 
taken from each of the following sources : Caesar von Heisterbach, 
Paraldus, Nicole de Bozon (?), a Yxench. fab Haze, and the Alexander 
cycle. 

Altogether, excluding the Bible and counting each saint's biography 
by itself, twenty-two different works are represented in the compilation. 
This is a large number for one man to use at that day, especially in the 
compilation of a popular didactic work ; but it must be remembered 
that the writer was probably a member of one of the rich monastic 
establishments of the North with considerable stores of books at his 
command. Moreover, from the changes made it is safe to say that the 
author sometimes wrote from memory and perhaps from oral tradition 
rather than from reference to books. Certainly he was neither very 
learned nor a man of great literary skill. The following passage from 
the prologue well illustrates the putpose and achievement of the 
work : 

Forthi will I of my pouerte 

Shewe some thinge I haue in hert, 

On ynglihsse tonge )>at all maye 

Vnderstand what I will saye. 

For lewid men base mare mistere 

Goddes worde for to here 

|>an clerkes ))t }>aire merour lokes, 

K seese how J?ai sail Hue in bokes. 

And bathe clerkes & lawde man ' 

Ynglihs vndirstand can 

\>i was born in yngelande 

And lange has bene j^are in wonande ; 

Bot all men can nojt I wisse 

Vndirstand latyne ne frankisse. 

(From MS. Ashmole 42, fol. i b, vv. 5 9-72. } 



\ 



